Global Climate Change and Environmental Health Concerns

Question 1

Natural and anthropogenic (i.e., man-made) causes of climate change

Answer 1

emissions of gases (such as CO2, CH4, N2O) from increased energy consumption, deforestation and agriculture

Question 2

2. Greenhouse effect

Answer 2

gases increase the trapping of heat

Question 3

3. Potential environmental health effects of climate change

Answer 3

-Heat Waves – Deaths from heatstroke worldwide may
double by 2020.
-Crops – drought and high temperatures could cause
crop failure and malnutrition.
-Pollution – Sunlight breaks pollution into noxious
substances, causing more respiratory problems.
-Disease – Warmer, wetter conditions may amplify and
extend the range of insect-borne diseases, such as
malaria and dengue fever; flooding could spawn more
water-borne illness.
-Water Wars – Droughts may bring on conflicts over
scarce water resources, pitting upstream nations
against downstream neighbors.
-Coral Bleaching – Warmer water can bleach coral
reefs, leading to their destruction; this may deplete
fisheries, disrupting food supplies and tourism.
-Refugees – Floods displaced 230 million people in
China in the 1998 La Nina rains. Future floods could
do similar damage by submerging homes and
contaminating water.
-Fires – Drier summers and higher temperatures create
ideal conditions for wildfires. In 1997, some 40,000
people were treated for smoke inhalation in Southeast
Asia.
-Floods – Sea levels may rise over this century, leaving
populations more vulnerable to storm surges. Earlier
melting snow could cause rivers to overflow.
-West Nile Virus:
- Mild Winter – more mosquitoes than usual
survive the winter in sewers, gutters, other pools of
water.
- Dry Spring – drought causes birds to converge on
dwindling water supplies, which are breeding
grounds for mosquitoes.
- Hot summer – mosquitoes carry the virus and heat
causes them to proliferate faster and bite more.

Question 4

4. El Niño

Answer 4

Warm front that causes warmer currents, mild winters in some areas and extreme weather in others.

Question 5

5. La Niña

Answer 5

Cold front that causes cooler currents and more severe winters