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When you mention climate change
people think of melting glaciers
polar bears losing their habitats
and droughts in Africa.
People just don't realize
climate change is already affecting our health
in cities throughout America.
It's becoming more and more evident
but climate change adversely impacts public health
on a very local level.
Increased severe weather,
air pollution,
water contamination,
air and insect borne disease
heart and respiratory diseases
malnutrition, heat and stress related illnesses
and social migration
are just some
of the health issues
associated
with climate change.
Climate change and health issues transcend borders hence the need to address and coordinate
response to these issues
at local, regional, national
and global levels.
The Orange County Health Department has produced three informative presentations that will
help inform the public about these issues.
Because being prepared is our best defense.
The following short presentation focuses on how climate change may increase the stress
and mental health issues of local communities.
To explain the consequences of climate change
on society now here is the Natahsa Prudent
health scientist for the climate change program
at the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
the (CDC).
Climate change is one of the greatest public health challenges of the
21st century.
And one of the reasons why this is the case is because
it exacerbates pre-existing social and health inequalities issues of environmental
justice.
One of the reasons why this is such a huge
issue is because we find that certain segments of the population will be disproportionately impacted
by disease, death, and displacement.
And so in terms of
the impact of climate change on society it's huge because we see that we have these traditional
populations:
they tend to be poor, elderly
or young or have
issues of health like pre-existing conditions of diabetes, athsma,
issues of mobility.
They would be the greatest impact
because of their inability to cope to sudden shifts.
But in addition to this idea of traditional vulnerability those people who are
traditionally marginalized we have this issue of place that also impacts society so
when we talk about place we talk about this idea of the built environment
something that
public health has been getting into but has been magnified under this
issue of climate change.
And so the built environment really is how cities are designed.
You can build a city that can actually lessen the impact of climate change
or really exacerbate it.
So, the way city designs itself, weather it decides to
pave over wetlands or natural rolling hills can actually create
artificial flood zones.
And so with artificial flood zones and now you have the issue of heavy rainfall events and flash
flooding events.
And so with
society we find that there are certain segments of the population who cannot really adapt
and so they when issues of flash flooding or even heat waves occur they don't have
the ability or
services that could mitigate these risks.
With climate change we expect to see more more severe extreme weather events specifically
heavy rainfall events, induced flash flooding, and heat waves.
In general we talk about these extreme events but we also must realize that there are
mental health issues associated with these events.
Mostly through post-traumatic stress disorders.
And this occurs when displacement happens so when we look at studies for instance with
Hurricane Katrina we see that shortly after the storm Hurricane Katrina evacuees
among Hurricane Katrina evacuees domestic violence was up.
But in addition, if you follow evacuees you would also notice that children who were displaced
from Katrina
to the Houston area or other parts of Texas their performances in school was also lower
because they had a a difficult time adjusting.
So, in addtion to
physical injuries we also have economic loss and community displacement which families and
individuals have to deal with which can add to the mental health burden.
Now this loss extends not only to the individual but to the family
in the community itself. This loss would be a loss of loved ones, a lost sense of
community, and a lost sense of
place.
Especially when you have a displacement from one area to a new area this
person or this individual might have to form new connections which requires
services that might not be available in their new location.
So again, this loss could
impact
the person's mental health as well as physical well-being.
With displacement those who are socio-economically
marginalized
face a disproportionately high burden of not returning to their original communities
because they lack the resources, either financial or community support to go back and rebuild
their lives. An example of this could be again could be Katrina where a lot of
the city
within Louisiana or within New Orleans has been re-built except for the ninth ward
because it requires financial
and other resources to be input into these communities which those were displaced within
the economically marginalized setting
don't have the ability to input back into the community.
Climate change will impact the public health infrastructure
and one way it will do this is by stressing already strained resources specifically within public
health departments.
Public health departments local and state have always been
tasked with doing extraordinary work from ranging from
identifying vulnerable populations to environmental health and sanitation.
With climate change will see that it's not a specific factor but all factors that will
be challenged.
As patterns of severe weather increase in intensity and frequency due to climate change,
more people will become displaced and suffer from loss of family, friends, homes,
community, and place.
Stress and mental health issues will require more immediate attention
as people and
whole communities are forced to relocate or try to rebuild.
Droughts or flooding is examples of how climate change cause stress to both crops and livestock
which can impact food supply and lead to higher
food prices.
Starvation and malnutrition may become more common
under these conditions.
Extreme weather may also jeopardize our current food transportation and distribution systems.
The Orange County Health Department is working to prepare for
and counter these effects
such as developing more community gardens.
But the more you know and understand about the immediate effects of climate change on
your health
the safer and healthier you will be.