By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

April is here, and the annual Earth Day, a worldwide drive to celebrate the natural world and its wonders and to protect our environment, will soon be here (April 22). So it is appropriate for us to address rising concerns about climate change.

Climate change is not a buzz word nor science fiction, but rather an urgent crisis based on scientific facts. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 13: Climate Action) calls for the world (i.e., us) to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.”

So, how urgent? And how does climate change affect you?

A plain fact is that greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide, CO₂) absorb heat. The climate becomes warmer and warmer, because CO₂ has been released into the atmosphere in increasingly faster and larger amounts. This acceleration of the greenhouse effect results from the expansion of fossil fuel burning, livestock farming, deforestation, and other practices over past decades. Basically, these are human activities.

Consequently, we see more and more extreme heat, rising seas, flooding(s), wildfires, hurricanes, and disasters. These events endanger the beauty and richness of the planet and the harmony of the ecosystem, and they threaten national security (seriously). More alarming, they take not only economic tolls but tolls on human lives by their severe impact on public health.

We have a window of 12 years to reduce carbon emissions. The well-being of future generations depends on and demands our speedy actions.

Let us focus on exactly how climate change can impact human health.

We know that dangerous storms resulting in flooding by heavy rains cause more contaminated water, more environmental pollutants, and more disease-spreading pathogens, leading to more human deaths. As the World Health Organization assessed, rises in malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress caused by climate change could kill an additional 250,000 people each year by 2030 and forward.

We know that warmer regions harbor more disease-carrying insects, and climate change has altered the geographic pattern of these bugs. For example, Lyme disease, an infection spread by tick bites, reached its highest occurrence, with a reported 40,000 cases, in 2017 after steadily growing since 1991, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data.

We also know that extreme heat waves and extreme weather patterns cause more psychological distress, depression, and other mental health concerns.

Some people in some demographics might dismiss the urgency of dealing with climate change, thinking it doesn’t affect them. It is true that the poor and minorities are often the victims most at risk of suffering from communicable diseases, and among them, the most vulnerable are children. However, climate change affects everyone, because evidently it is causing growing incidences of non-communicable diseases (e.g. heart disease and cancer) in both low-to-middle income and high-income countries.

We know that more water vapor creates a thicker blanket of pollutants—not only warming the earth but producing reduced air quality. Additionally, high temperatures render inert chemicals more volatile and more soluble; some of them are carcinogenic or possibly carcinogenic, and human exposure to them is increasing. The more pollutants around, the more asthma, respiratory diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

All of this is indisputable.

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There are numerous ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and I’d like to share seven top ideas for taking “greener” actions and lifestyle modifications on a daily basis:

1. Bike or walk instead of driving whenever possible to reduce the carbon fingerprint and overcome a sedentary lifestyle.
2. Buy local to reduce fossil fuel for transportation and greenhouse gas emission, and if it is close to home, walk to the farmers’ market; needless to say, the better quality of food you will likely find there doubles your health benefits.
3. Cut meat consumption, especially red meats, and embrace a plant-based diet. Note: Less meat ¹ No meat. By eating less meat, you help curtail livestock production and coexistent greenhouse emissions, while lowering your intake of potentially carcinogenic agents.
4. Recycle, recycle, and recycle. And even better, minimize the use of plastics from water bottles to plastic bags and straws, in order to prevent pollution and cut carbon emissions.
5. Reuse items when possible to reduce wastes in landfills. Reuse grocery/shopping bags and reuse other household products or personal items after repairing. You may also donate still-useful items to charitable organizations.
6. Unplug electronic devices, turn off TVs, and switch off lights when not in use, to curtail carbon dioxide emission by consuming less electricity and preserving more natural resources; particularly in the evening, doing so will also promote a good night’s sleep.
7. Plant a garden or a tree around the house if you haven’t yet, to offset the greenhouse effect and global warming, as plants and trees take in carbon dioxide. Plus, gardening keeps you physical active.

It all comes down to behavioral change and at times it takes giving up some convenience. You have a choice to act on one thing or all of the above, and certainly you can go further beyond.

I challenge you to make a thoughtful resolution or update your New Year’s resolutions, and contribute your personal efforts to combating global warming.

Imagine when that effort is multiplied many times, what changes it will bring to the world.

Again, climate change and health impact go hand-in-hand. So, let’s save the planet, save the world, and save lives!

Please share this post, “spread the words” is one of actions by raising the awareness.

Image credit: pixabay