Health

## Intro to Global Warming and Health

Our health is something that we all value but scientists say that in the near future and even now Global Warming has been one of the culprits to affecting human health all around the world. Changes in temperature will make winter frosts come later in the season and spring blooming come earlier causing many issues with people who have allergies because plants like tree pollen and ragweed are not only expected to stay longer but it is predicted that they will be stronger. In this section of the Lakota Titans Wiki you will be informed on how Global Warming can affect your health.

## Extreme Weather Events

Even though climate will shorten winters lowering illness, deaths, and injuries relating to snow, but even because of the snow related deaths will lower this will not compare to anything like the heat increase will cause. Over these past years we have seen deaths from extreme weather events. Every year there are 60,000 deaths mostly from developing countries. More heat will give the earth more precipitation because the water cycles pace will increase due to the earth heating. This can all go to increasing sea levels, flooding, and large amounts of snow, and rain. Over half of the earth's population lives 3 kilometers from the sea and that will leave more that half the worlds population homes destroyed making more than half the worlds population flea from the sea borders. Flooding in particular can be very dangerous because it forces people to live in a damp indoor environment. This can lead to mold that will spread in homes and buildings. Asthma cases will increase and so will water spread diseases. The opposing extreme weather event would be droughts. Droughts can be deadly to human health because if there is a lack of rain there will be chances of that season's crops not growing that year. Other side effects of droughts would be wildfires, dust storms, and extreme heat exposure. Dust storms can contribute to low quality air and water and many dust storms are associated with a disease called Valley Fever that's spread through a fungal pathogen in the air.

## Decreased Air Quality

Climate change is starting to increase the amount of ozone and other harmful gasses we have in our atmosphere. The main cause connected to the increasing ozone is smog. This issue can lead to many more hospital admissions because of diminished lung function, asthma attacks, and increases in premature deaths by 1,000-4,300 by 2050. Ozone can also make the earth seem like an oven because of the methane that it helps produce causing things like wildfires. Later health costs will increase to 6.5 billion US dollars because of ozone pollution.

## Threats to Mental Health

61.5 million adults every year are diagnosed with a mental illness in the US. Over time mental illness has been a major problem because so many people have it but with global warming it is predicted that number will increase because of how the weather will change. With climate change comes weather disasters. Things like tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods can make a person who has no history with a mental illness react with something called Common Reaction to Abnormal Events. This type of illness was found in many of the victims of hurricane Katrina. Stress can lead to other health events that can be increased by climate change such as, preterm birth, low birth rate, and maternal complications. How mental illness affects that person depends on the weather like people with schizophrenia are at risk for hypothermia because their medication deals which temperatures their body can withstand.

## Diseases Spread from Food and Water

There is a chance that you may catch diarrheal disease which is not as common in the US as it is in developing countries. This comes from many different pathogens that can be exposed to your food and water. The spreading of diseases can also depend on different factors like, air and water temperatures, extreme rainfall, and seasonal variation. Of all of the people that could be exposed to food and water that haven't been treated properly the elderly and children would be the ones that are at a higher risk of catching diarrheal disease.

## Diseases Held in Fleas and Ticks

During the summer time of the year is when vectors like fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes thrive, and with Global Warming it is predicted that we will have more of those summer days meaning that they can stay longer. This can also give the possibility of those diseases evolving based on how the pathogen interacts with the host and infection. Many of the North American region is at risk for Lyme Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Plague, and Tularemia. It is really hard to keep these types of infections under control because of how much the time people are outside giving them the change to receive these infections.

   The amount of other insects will increase like bee's and wasps. There are many new places that these insects are popping up which can be deadly to that 3.3 percent of adults that have a bee allergy in the US who are endangered even more because of the increasing population of bees and wasps.

## Heat

With Global Warming there is expected to be large amounts of heats. One out of many ways that this can effect you is dehydration. With dehydration the processes of processing the water by moving the crystal calcifications through the urinary tract making another 2.2 million people by 2050 acquire kidney stones.