Thursday, December 10, 2009

Health Effects Due to Global Warming


As the global temperatures have changed many other things have changed as well. One of those things is disease, as a result of climate change and other environmental factors the amount of diagnosed diseases have gone up. One of the major diseases is asthma. Just in the past "20 years" diagnoses and hospitalizations have increased "30%." That 30% increase is easily related to the pollution increase which causes climate change. One of the relations made between asthma and pollution is the sulfur dioxide in the air. Sulfur dioxide constricts the airway making it even harder for an asthmatic to breathe, it also contributes to global climate change.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD) is another disease directly related to climate change. The rates of COPD have increased steadily along with the rates of pollution. "100,000" people in the U.S alone die from this disease each year. A decrease in pollution would have a direct impact with lessening this disease.

Diseases such as diabetes, heart conditions and cystic fibrosis already dangerous, can be further aggravated by the air pollution that causes global climate change. The climate change we are facing has many negative impacts and has greatly increased the rate of diagnoses of many diseases.

medicenenet.com