bookmark_borderDangers to Children: Sun, Bugs and Breathing

Dangerous Air Quality Due to Ozone Levels
Dangerous Air Quality Due to Ozone Levels

What are three of the most dangerous natural threats to children? Exposure to the sun, mosquitoes (West Nile Virus), ticks (Lime Disease) and breathing. However, reducing your risk to these can create health risks as well. Too much sunscreen may prevent the body from producing vitamin D. The chemicals in insect repellent can pose a slew of long term health risks.

Obviously, not breathing results in death.  For instance, the day this article was in Philadelphia the government issued an “Action Day” where they advise active children not to breath outside.

Learn More About the Dangers of the Sun, Mosquitoes and Breathing
Philadelphia’s Air Quality

 

bookmark_borderHealth And Climate Change

Learn more about global warming.

by MedlinePlus Trusted Health — Information for You A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine from the National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of Health

Weather can be hot or cold, dry or wet, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Climate is the average weather in a place over a long period of time. Changes in climate may be due to natural forces or from human activities. Today climate changes are happening at an increasingly rapid rate.

Climate change is altering weather and climate patterns that previously have been relatively stable. Climate experts think that climate change will bring increasingly frequent and severe heat waves and extreme weather events, as well as a rise in sea levels. These changes have the potential to affect human health in direct and indirect ways.

* Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.
* Global warming that has occurred since the 1970s caused over 140 000 excess deaths annually by the year 2004.
* The direct damage costs to health (i.e. excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation), is estimated to be between US$ 2-4 billion/year by 2030.
* Many of the major killers such as diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition, malaria and dengue are highly climate-sensitive and are expected to worsen as the climate changes.
* Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.
* Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy-use choices can result in improved health.

bookmark_borderClimate Change Impacts on Health and Wellness

A study mandated by congress, National Climate Assessment and Development Climate Assessment, highlights the impact on health and wellness.

1. Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, diseases transmitted by insects, food and water, and threats to mental health. Some of these health impacts are already underway in the U.S.
2. Climate change will, absent other changes, amplify some of the existing health threats the nation now faces. Certain people and communities are especially vulnerable, including children, the elderly, the sick, the poor, and some communities of color.
3. Public health actions, especially preparedness and prevention, can do much to protect people from some of the impacts of climate change. Early action provides the largest health benefits. As threats increase, our ability to adapt to future changes may be limited.
4. Responding to climate change provides opportunities to improve human health and well-being across many sectors, including energy, agriculture, and transportation.

Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health

Tropospheric Ozone Causes Respiratory Disease and Asthma

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment