global climate change
Post on 14-May-2015
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Global Climate Change: Health Risks and Preventive Strategies
By Dr Nik Nor Ronaidi bin Nik Mahdi
Content
1. Summary of global climate change2. Possible risks to human health3. What are the main risks to human health / health
impact?4. Action taken previously and currently to prevent /
mitigate the health risks / health impact 5. Possible actions to prevent /lessen the health
impact related to global climate change6. Roles for doctors and other health professionals to
reduce health risk
Summary of global climate change
What is weather?
•Weather is the state of atmospheric conditions (i.e., hot/cold, wet/dry, calm/stormy, sunny/cloudy) that exist over relatively short periods of time (hours to a couple of days).
•Weather includes the passing of a thunderstorm, hurricane, or blizzard, and the persistence of a heat wave, or a cold snap.
What is Climate?
•Climate is the weather we expect over the period of a month, a season, a decade, or a century.
•More technically, climate is defined as the weather conditions resulting from the mean state of the atmosphere-ocean-land system, often described in terms of "climate normals" or average weather conditions.
Weather and Climate
Climate Change is…• Any significant change in measures of climate
(such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer).– When due to natural processes, it is usually referred to as global climate
variability– Usually refers to changes forced by human activities that change the
atmosphere
Global warming is…• …the increase in the average surface air
temperature of the planet that is a result of the buildup of heat-trapping or "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere.
Climate Change or Global Warming?• The term CLIMATE CHANGE is often used
interchangeably with GLOBAL WARMING.• The phrase 'climate change‘ is growing in
preferred use to 'global warming' because it convey there are other changes in addition to rising temperatures.”(National Academy of Sciences)
Climate Change Is Happening Now. • Warming of the global climate is clear and is
shown by – increases in global average air and ocean
temperatures,– widespread melting of snow and ice– rising global average sea level– the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred
since 1990.
How do we know?
Scientists learn about the past climate conditions from such things as tree ring analysis, fossil evidence, and analysis of patterns and chemical composition in coral skeletons and ice cores.
What causes Earth’s climate to change?
Natural causes:• Variations in the Earth's orbital characteristics. • Atmospheric carbon dioxide variations. • Volcanic eruptions • Variations in solar output.
Anthropogenic: Human activities – any activity that releases Human activities – any activity that releases
“greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere“greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere
The Greenhouse Effect• The Earth receives ultraviolet (UV) radiation from
the sun, absorbs it, and then radiates the energy out as infrared radiation
• The Earth is warmer because our atmosphere traps some of the outgoing IR radiation. This is a natural process known as the greenhouse effect.
• The greenhouse effect is a good thing, without it the Earth would become too cold for life to exist.
• However, man’s activities appear to be altering the natural balance.
Greenhouse Gasses• Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases that trap infrared
radiation emitted from the earth.
• Most of the significant greenhouse gases are long-lived and well-mixed:
• Long-lived means they are chemically stable and therefore last years in the atmosphere
• Well-mixed means they are evenly distributed in the atmosphere.
• This family includes carbon dioxide, methane, oxides of nitrogen, and halocarbons.
• Water vapor is a greenhouse gas that is neither well-mixed nor long-lived. Because of this, its overall effect on global warming is the least understood.
Greenhouse gases
Nitrous oxide
Water
Carbon dioxideMethane
Sulfur hexafluoride
Possible risks to human health
Health effects
Temperature-relatedillness and death
Extreme weather-related health effects
Air pollution-relatedhealth effects
Water and food-bornediseases
Vectorborne and rodentborne diseases
Health Effects
Temperature-relatedillness and death
Extreme weather-related (floods, storms, etc.) health effects
Air pollution-relatedhealth effects
Human exposures
Regional weatherchanges
•Heat waves•Extreme weather•Temperature•Precipitation
Regional weatherchanges
•Heat waves•Extreme weather•Temperature•
•Sea-level rise
Contaminationpathways
Transmissiondynamics
----rodent
Microbial changes:
Contamination paths
Transmission dynamics
Water and food-bornediseases
Vectorborne and borne diseases
Climate ChangeClimate Change
Changes in agro-ecosystems, hydrology
Socioeconomic and demographic disruption
Effects of food and water shortages
Mental, nutritional,infectious-disease and other effects
Modulating influences
THANK YOU
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