Climate change Flashcards
What are the indirect health implications of climate change?
Indirect effects:
1.Altered ecology of water-borne and food-borne infective agents: malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis.
In the next century, malaria will increase by 220-400 million
- Altered food production through droughts or floods.
- Altered activity of vectors and parasites- global migration spreading diseases to different parts of the world to vulnerable or reduced immunity populations
What are the direct health implications of climate change?
Direct effects: 1.Sea level rise= displaced populations and infrastructure damage. 2.changed the frequency of extreme events = death, injuries, and mental health 3.Morbidity and mortality due to temperature extremes. #Mild heat rashes--> heat strokes #Higher CVS and respiratory effects dues to increase in ground-level ozone #Incr in burning fossil fuels = higher particulates exposure
- What are the causes of climate change?
- Natural variability, movement of the Earth's axis and orbital changes every 20k-100k, solar activity, volcanoes. -Human activities: Increases in green house gases, ozone depletion and land clearing. IPCC claims global warming most due to human activities.
What is global warming?
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- What is climate change?
Instability of the Earth's climate due to changes in the composition of the atmosphere, largely as a result of increased concentrations of green house gases like CO2. Greenhouse gases trap solar radiation leading to global warming (making globe warmer)
Discuss the science behind climate change.
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- Discuss the greenhouse effect.
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- Discuss the interventions necessary to reduce health outcomes.
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- Discuss the interventions necessary to reduce global warming.
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- What are the four types of greenhouse pollutants?
- Long lived green house pollutants
- Medium lived green house pollutants
- Short lived green house pollutants
- Very short lived greenhouse pollutants
- Which ones are generally not toxic to humans and which ones are?
Long lived and medium lived greenhouse pollutants
- Discuss long-lived greenhouse pollutants. CO2 and N2O
Carbon dioxide is low Direct health hazard and is the weakest greenhouse pollutant by mass however huge magnitude of emissions and long atmospheric lifetime it is most important overall
nitrous oxide and halocarbons also have little Direct effect on health, they arise mainly from sources outside the energy supply system strong greenhouse gases by mass but concentrations are low
- Discuss medium-lived greenhouse pollutants. CH4
Main source of methane is agriculture and poor waste management
secondary sources are energy related sources for example leakage from oil and gas facilities in coal mines and incomplete combustion
it is not directly damaging to health but precursor to the global rise of tropospheric Ozone concentration that is about 21 time effect of carbon dioxide on mass basis and very rapidly increasing it is the second most important greenhouse pollutant.
- Discuss short-lived greenhouse pollutants. CO and NMVOCs and NOx and SO2 and Black carbon and Organic carbon aerosol
Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion it has no direct effect on the climate but it removes hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere does increasing lifetime of methane and adding to tropospheric ozone thus warms the climate
non-methane volatile organic compounds are products of incomplete combustion as well and fuel evaporation contribute to ozone formation and reduce the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere they extend the lifetime of methane they can also have Direct human health effects
Nitrogen oxide is derived from fuel combustion of sulphur dioxide derived mainly from combustion of fuels
are there short lived pollutants are black carbon and organic carbon aerosol
-What are the global effects of climate change?
Rise in sea level by 50cm by 2100 Increase in temp. progressively, more very hot days and few very cold days altered global patterns of floods and droughts.
