Tag: climatechange

The Biggest Public Health Threat of the 21st Century

For some reason, the phrase “climate change” doesn’t incite quite as much fear or panic as the otherwise triggering terms “Zika” and “Ebola.” Perhaps this is because, for many people, climate change is a rather abstract and distant notion. And unfortunately, we don’t fully recognize the implications of climate change until it’s too late – until we are subjected to a wave of new mosquito borne diseases that thrive in warmer temperatures or until we are forced to abandon our homes because the land on which they were built has been overtaken by rising sea levels or until we are staring face to face at the remnants of a community destroyed by a natural disaster. Climate change exacts a toll on not only our physical environment, but also our personal well-being. A 1 to 2 °C rise in temperature may appear minuscule, but the effects are far-reaching, and unevenly felt. Weather disasters that strike communities struggling with poverty, inadequate housing, and water scarcity, for example, create dire and lethal conditions for the populations that live there. As some scientists believe, climate change has thus become a “threat multiplier.” It’s incredibly crucial for humanity to recognize the complex and dynamic issue of climate change, and respond with urgency and boldness.