Temperature extremes can also worsen chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes -related conditions. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures is associated with increased hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders.
Based on present-day sensitivity to heat, an increase of thousands to tens of thousands of premature heat-related deaths in the summer [Very Likely, High Confidence] and a decrease of premature cold-related deaths in the winter [Very Likely, Medium Confidence] are projected each year as a result of climate change by the end of the century.
Future adaptation will very likely reduce these impacts see Changing Tolerance to Extreme Heat Finding. The reduction in cold-related deaths is projected to be smaller than the increase in heat-related deaths in most regions [Likely, Medium Confidence].
Days that are hotter than usual in the summer or colder than usual in the winter are both associated with increased illness and death [Very High Confidence]. Mortality effects are observed even for small differences from seasonal average temperatures [High Confidence]. Because small temperature differences occur much more frequently than large temperature differences, not accounting for the effect of these small differences would lead to underestimating the future impact of climate change [Likely, High Confidence].
An increase in population tolerance to extreme heat has been observed over time [Very High Confidence]. Expected future increases in this tolerance will reduce the projected increase in deaths from heat [Very Likely, Very High Confidence].
Older adults and children have a higher risk of dying or becoming ill due to extreme heat [Very High Confidence]. People working outdoors, the socially isolated and economically disadvantaged, those with chronic illnesses, as well as some communities of color, are also especially vulnerable to death or illness [Very High Confidence].
Changes in the climate affect the air we breathe, both indoors and outdoors. The changing climate has modified weather patterns, which in turn have influenced the levels and location of outdoor air pollutants such as ground-level ozone O 3 see Figure ES4 and fine particulate matter. Increasing carbon dioxide CO 2 levels also promote the growth of plants that release airborne allergens aeroallergens.
Finally, these changes to outdoor air quality and aeroallergens also affect indoor air quality as both pollutants and aeroallergens infiltrate homes, schools, and other buildings. Poor air quality, whether outdoors or indoors, can negatively affect the human respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons can increase allergic sensitization and asthma episodes and thereby limit productivity at work and school. Climate change will make it harder for any given regulatory approach to reduce ground-level ozone pollution in the future as meteorological conditions become increasingly conducive to forming ozone over most of the United States [Likely, High Confidence].
Unless offset by additional emissions reductions, these climate-driven increases in ozone will cause premature deaths, hospital visits, lost school days, and acute respiratory symptoms [Likely, High Confidence]. Wildfires emit fine particles and ozone precursors that in turn increase the risk of premature death and adverse chronic and acute cardiovascular and respiratory health outcomes [Likely, High Confidence].
Climate change is projected to increase the number and severity of naturally occurring wildfires in parts of the United States, increasing emissions of particulate matter and ozone precursors and resulting in additional adverse health outcomes [Likely, High Confidence].
Changes in climate , specifically rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide , are expected to contribute to increasing levels of some airborne allergens and associated increases in asthma episodes and other allergic illnesses [High Confidence]. Climate change projections show that there will be continuing increases in the occurrence and severity of some extreme events by the end of the century, while for other extremes the links to climate change are more uncertain.
Some regions of the United States have already experienced costly impacts—in terms of both lives lost and economic damages see Figure ES5 —from observed changes in the frequency, intensity, or duration of certain extreme events see Table 1 in Ch 4: Extreme Events.
While it is intuitive that extremes can have health impacts such as death or injury during an event for example, drowning during floods , health impacts can also occur before or after an extreme event, as individuals may be involved in activities that put their health at risk, such as disaster preparation and post-event cleanup. Health risks may also arise long after the event, or in places outside the area where the event took place, as a result of damage to property, destruction of assets, loss of infrastructure and public services, social and economic impacts, environmental degradation, and other factors.
Extreme events also pose unique health risks if multiple events occur simultaneously or in succession in a given location. The severity and extent of health effects associated with extreme events depend on the physical impacts of the extreme events themselves as well as the unique human, societal, and environmental circumstances at the time and place where events occur.
Health impacts associated with climate -related changes in exposure to extreme events include death, injury, or illness; exacerbation of underlying medical conditions; and adverse effects on mental health [High Confidence].
Many types of extreme events related to climate change cause disruption of infrastructure , including power, water, transportation, and communication systems, that are essential to maintaining access to health care and emergency response services and safeguarding human health [High Confidence]. Coastal populations with greater vulnerability to health impacts from coastal flooding include persons with disabilities or other access and functional needs, certain populations of color, older adults, pregnant women and children, low-income populations, and some occupational groups [High Confidence].
Climate change will increase exposure risk to coastal flooding due to increases in extreme precipitation and in hurricane intensity and rainfall rates, as well as sea level rise and the resulting increases in storm surge [High Confidence]. Vector-borne diseases are illnesses that are transmitted by vectors , which include mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas. These vectors can carry infective pathogens such as viruses, bacteria , and protozoa , which can be transferred from one host carrier to another.
The seasonality, distribution, and prevalence of vector-borne diseases are influenced significantly by climate factors, primarily high and low temperature extremes and precipitation patterns.
Climate change is likely to have both short- and long-term effects on vector-borne disease transmission and infection patterns, affecting both seasonal risk and broad geographic changes in disease occurrence over decades see Figure ES6. While climate variability and climate change both alter the transmission of vector-borne diseases, they will likely interact with many other factors, including how pathogens adapt and change, the availability of hosts, changing ecosystems and land use , demographics, human behavior, and adaptive capacity.
These complex interactions make it difficult to predict the effects of climate change on vector-borne diseases. Climate change is expected to alter the geographic and seasonal distributions of existing vectors and vector-borne diseases [Likely, High Confidence]. Ticks capable of carrying the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and other pathogens will show earlier seasonal activity and a generally northward expansion in response to increasing temperatures associated with climate change [Likely, High Confidence].
Longer seasonal activity and expanding geographic range of these ticks will increase the risk of human exposure to ticks [Likely, Medium Confidence]. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and a higher frequency of some extreme weather events associated with climate change will influence the distribution, abundance, and prevalence of infection in the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus and other pathogens by altering habitat availability and mosquito and viral reproduction rates [Very Likely, High Confidence].
Alterations in the distribution, abundance, and infection rate of mosquitoes will influence human exposure to bites from infected mosquitoes, which is expected to alter risk for human disease [Very Likely, Medium Confidence].
Vector-borne pathogens are expected to emerge or reemerge due to the interactions of climate factors with many other drivers, such as changing land-use patterns [Likely, High Confidence]. The impacts to human disease, however, will be limited by the adaptive capacity of human populations, such as vector control practices or personal protective measures [Likely, High Confidence]. Water-related illnesses include waterborne diseases caused by pathogens, such as bacteria , viruses, and protozoa.
Water-related illnesses are also caused by toxins produced by certain harmful algae and cyanobacteria and by chemicals introduced into the environment by human activities. Exposure occurs through ingestion, inhalation, or direct contact with contaminated drinking or recreational water and through consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish.
Factors related to climate change—including temperature, precipitation and related runoff, hurricanes, and storm surge—affect the growth, survival, spread, and virulence or toxicity of agents causes of water-related illness.
Water resource, public health, and environmental agencies in the United States provide many public health safeguards to reduce risk of exposure and illness even if water becomes contaminated. These include water quality monitoring, drinking water treatment standards and practices, beach closures, and issuing advisories for boiling drinking water and harvesting shellfish. Increases in water temperatures associated with climate change will alter the seasonal windows of growth and the geographic range of suitable habitat for freshwater toxin -producing harmful algae [Very Likely, High Confidence] , certain naturally occurring Vibrio bacteria [Very Likely, Medium Confidence] , and marine toxin-producing harmful algae [Likely, Medium Confidence].
These changes will increase the risk of exposure to waterborne pathogens and algal toxins that can cause a variety of illnesses [Medium Confidence]. But the push to trim carbon emissions begins with changing how we live. Art: Romualdo Faura. Comment on this article.
Show Comments. Next: 5 Ways to Curb Climate Change Governments, businesses, and utilities are moving toward cleaner energy. Share this article. These deaths will not be offset by the smaller reduction in cold-related deaths projected in the winter months.
Projected changes in several climate variables for with respect to the average for the RCP6. These include the coldest night of the year top left and the hottest day of the year top right. Also shown are projections of the wettest day of the year bottom left and the annual longest consecutive dry day spell bottom right. The length of the annual longest dry spell is projected to increase in most areas, but these changes are small: less than two days in most areas.
Exposure to extreme heat can lead to heat stroke and dehydration, as well as cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular disease. Certain types of populations are more vulnerable than others: for example, outdoor workers, student athletes, and homeless people tend to be more exposed to extreme heat because they spend more time outdoors. Low-income households and older adults may lack access to air conditioning which also increases exposure to extreme heat.
Additionally, young children, pregnant women, older adults, and people with certain medical conditions are less able to regulate their body temperature and can therefore be more vulnerable to extreme heat. Our interactive map features climate-related health risks by state and actions you can take to reduce these risks. Urban areas are typically warmer than their rural surroundings. Large metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cincinnati have seen notable increases in death rates during heat waves.
Heat waves are also often accompanied by periods of stagnant air, leading to increases in air pollution and associated health effects. This figure shows the relationship between high temperatures and deaths observed during the Chicago heat wave.
The large spike in deaths in mid-July red line is much higher than the average number of deaths during that time of year orange line , as well as the death rate before and after the heat wave. Source: EPA Click the image to view a larger version. Changes in the climate affect the air we breathe both indoors and outdoors. Warmer temperatures and shifting weather patterns can worsen air quality, which can lead to asthma attacks and other respiratory and cardiovascular health effects.
Despite significant improvements in U. Scientists project that warmer temperatures from climate change will increase the frequency of days with unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone, a harmful air pollutant, and a component in smog. Particulate matter is the term for a category of extremely small particles and liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere.
Fine particles include those smaller than 2. Some particulate matter such as dust, wildfire smoke, and sea spray occur naturally, while some is created by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy.
These particles may be emitted directly or may be formed in the atmosphere from chemical reactions of gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds. Due to the complex factors that influence atmospheric levels of fine particulate matter, scientists do not yet know whether climate change will increase or decrease particulate matter concentrations across the United States.
Climate-related changes in stagnant air episodes, wind patterns, emissions from vegetation and the chemistry of atmospheric pollutants will also affect particulate matter levels. Take our quiz to see how much you know about the health impacts of climate change! Allergic illnesses, including hay fever, affect about one-third of the U.
Increases in the frequency or severity of some extreme weather events, such as extreme precipitation, flooding, droughts, and storms, threaten the health of people during and after the event.
Extreme events can affect human health in a number of ways by:. In addition, emergency evacuations pose health risks to older adults, especially those with limited mobility who cannot use elevators during power outages.
Evacuations may be complicated by the need for concurrent transfer of medical records, medications, and medical equipment. Some individuals with disabilities may also be disproportionally affected if they are unable to access evacuation routes, have difficulty in understanding or receiving warnings of impending danger, or have limited ability to communicate their needs.
Vectorborne diseases are illnesses that are transmitted by disease vectors , which include mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas. These vectors can carry infectious pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, from animals to humans. Changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme events increases the geographic range of diseases spread by vectors and can lead to illnesses occurring earlier in the year. The spread of climate-sensitive diseases will depend on both climate and non-climate factors such as land use, socioeconomic and cultural conditions, pest control, access to health care, and human responses to disease risk.
The United States has public health infrastructure and programs to monitor, manage, and prevent the spread of many diseases. The risks for climate-sensitive diseases can be much higher in poorer countries that have less capacity to prevent and treat illness.
West Nile virus is maintained in transmission cycles between birds the natural hosts of the virus and mosquitoes. Human infections can occur from a bite of a mosquito that has previously bitten an infected bird.
By trapping heat into our planet, carbon emissions also damage the human body and mind in other ways. But did you know that warmer temperatures are linked to a 2 percent increase in mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and even PTSD?
But for many living in coastal communities, sea-level rise could lead to an unwanted and sudden move. As our globe warms, glaciers melt and ocean water expands, leading seas to rise about 7 to 8 inches on average since — about 3 inches of that since The added volume of water creeping up coastlines slowly swallows land and homes and fuels more flooding inland to name just a few impacts.
For example, in the United States, from to , the median annual number of flood days more than doubled on the East Coast between Florida and North Carolina, thanks in part to rising sea levels. In Miami, even residents that live far away from the beach could be forced to relocate.
Lower-income, people of color, and immigrants could lose their homes to wealthy residents who want to move away from the coast and into neighborhoods safe from the water, driving property values and rents up and out of reach of regular people. No two people in this world are exactly the same. We all eat. The same CO2 accumulating in our atmosphere thanks to fossil fuels is actually changing the composition of fruits and vegetables that we eat, making them less nutritious. Extra CO2 is speeding up photosynthesis and causing plants to grow with more sugar and less calcium, protein, zinc, and important vitamins.
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