In recent years, climate changes have become more pronounced, not only in our part of Europe, but also throughout the world. In addition to extreme temperature differences in the same parts of the year, heavy rainfall and floods, recent temperature records have been falling, bringing with them dark scenarios of drought and fires. Such long periods of extremely high temperatures cause large heat waves that lead to the worst-case scenario: the death of a portion of the population.
The possibility of such a scenario occurring is not news to anyone as there are hundreds of scientific studies that have predicted this development and confirmed that heat waves will be longer, hotter and life threatening in the future.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, the entire planet has warmed by one degree Celsius and is predicted to warm by another degree by the end of the 21st century, an extremely unfavorable forecast.
The same study claims that almost 30% of deaths worldwide during the year are partly due to high temperature, extreme cold and other important consequences of climate change. This means that climate change is already affecting our health at an alarming rate, and this percentage will increase in the future.
The worst example of this catastrophic heat trend is the United States, where heat kills more people each year than any other natural disaster. The extreme heat wave that occurred in Chicago in 1995 was the first major heat wave and claimed many lives. It was followed by the European wave of 2003 and the third occurred in 2019 in France.
The summer of 2021 brought a new wave of extreme heat to the American Southwest, with a record 46.6 degrees recorded in Canada at a time of year when the usual temperature average is just 24 degrees. Each year brings even bigger records, so it is more than obvious that climate change has led to drastic and dangerous changes.
What is a heat wave and what are its consequences
A heat wave is an extended period of intense heat that is most often caused by the trapping of large amounts of hot air in a high-pressure atmosphere.
Its impact is huge, as it often causes fires, droughts, changes in ecosystems, damage to crops and various agricultural sectors, livestock diseases, decline in water and food quality, and the like.
The health consequences are even more drastic, as the risk of various injuries, illnesses and deaths from fires, heatstrokes, malnutrition caused by drought-related crop reductions, diseases caused by water loss or pollution, and many other disease states increases. .
How much does heat affect mortality? Lots of! The death rate increases by 1-4% for each degree Celsius higher on the scale.
The figures that speak of heatwave mortality are even more shocking, as it has been found that in Europe over the past 25 years, an average of 400 people have died per year from the direct and indirect effects of heatstroke per million inhabitants. This small number shows how dangerous extreme heat waves are and how severe they are every year. In addition, the number of people who died as a result of extreme cold, fires or floods is many times lower than the number of people who died as a result of heat.
Calculations by the WHO (World Health Organization) predict that extreme periods of heat are yet to come and that between 2030 and 2050 more than a hundred thousand more people will die from the effects of the heat than now.
Extreme temperatures caused by climate change pose a serious danger in the form of hyperthermia and heatstroke, and such temperature extremes are the worst enemy of many chronic diseases: heart disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, and the like. Heatstroke is also a very common trigger of stroke and can surprise even perfectly healthy people.
How does climate change affect health?
All climate changes, including extreme heat, brought great changes not only to ecosystems, but also to human society, because they affected the spread and emergence of various diseases that were not so widespread before.
The extreme heat caused many diseases and encouraged large-scale human migration. Various diseases from warmer regions such as dengue fever, West Nile fever, malaria and Lyme disease are moving into areas where they have never been. Almost a hundred thousand Europeans fall ill every year with these types of diseases that have nothing to do with European soil. Tick-related diseases have been found to be increasingly being transmitted to the Northern Hemisphere and, in addition to Lyme disease, include the dangerous tick-borne meningoencephalitis.
The disturbed climate also influenced the development of allergic diseases, which arise due to the influence of pollen on the human respiratory system. Such diseases appear earlier and earlier in the year and their duration is lengthening. The reason is the dispersion of pollen particles, which correspond to heat and wind, and the climatic changes that distribute them.
The very bad news is that the negative effects of heat waves are stronger if the air in which the wave occurs is polluted. Unfortunately, this leads to even more dispersion of bad fine particles that enter the respiratory system.
During the heat, there is also a great danger through the consumption of food, because high temperatures are ideal for the development of pathogenic bacteria in food and can seriously damage the health of patients.
In addition to all the potential dangers to physical health mentioned above, there is another side of the coin that is not talked about much, and that is the impact of climate change on human mental health.
Scientists and doctors have noticed that all extreme events, in this case extreme heat, have a great impact on mental health and cause stress and anxiety, which can later result in the development of chronic and even more serious diseases of the psychological system. The impact of these changes can be extremely devastating if a family member, home or even job is lost due to extreme heat.
The long-term impact of such climate changes manifests itself in various population migrations, job losses or food shortages, which are very significant factors that can affect mental health. In addition to depression, they are often associated with other serious behavioral disorders such as aggression and violence.
Additionally, the most vulnerable population is at greatest risk of developing depression and mental disorders, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people who already have a mental illness. Unfortunately, many studies have shown that the risk of death from extreme temperatures triples in people with mental illness.