The human health chapter of climate change and ozone depletion

Abstract

Climate change is one of the greatest emerging threats of the 21st century. There is much scientific evidence that climate change is giving birth to direct health events including more frequent weather extremes, increase in epidemics, food and water scarcity. Indirect risks to health are related to changes in temperature and precipitation, leading to droughts and floods, which affect agricultural yields and production. In some regions of the world, these impacts compromise food security and threaten human health through the spread of infectious diseases, malnutrition, and food contamination. The health impacts of climate change constitute a major task for public health planners and policymakers because they require new techniques and approaches to deal with the complexities and uncertainties that are bound with it. The complexities related to the problem are far beyond simple epidemiologic analysis and interpretations of disease causation. There is need to strengthen existing health systems with the ability to assess health vulnerabilities and build capacity to fight health risks due to climate change. This paper explores the health impacts of climate change in humans in general, while emphasizing on the role of local government and policy makers in the control of health related hazards to climate

Keywords: climate change, health impacts, policy makers