Climate change is already having a lasting – potentially irreversible – effect on our natural environments. The latest grave warning from the world's leading climate scientists suggests it also poses an increasing risk to your personal health.
The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new report on Monday, in which hundreds of climate researchers around the world warned about "dangerous and widespread disruption in nature" in the coming years without a substantial, coordinated effort from world leaders to tackle climate change.
The report also warned — with a "very high" degree of confidence — that a variety of physical and mental health problems will become more prevalent as global temperatures rise, affecting a growing number of people both in the U.S. and around the world.
Heat-related death rates are projected to rise. Excessive wildfire smoke will likely make any respiratory diseases worse. Humans are even at risk of climate change-induced mental health issues, partially stemming from the trauma of living through disasters like wildfires or extreme storms.
Some of those issues are already here: Climate change has already "negatively affected human health and wellbeing in North America," the report states. The situation is more dire in developing nations, the U.N. report says — low-income countries are likely to be hit the hardest by climate change, due to a lack of resources to mitigate those effects.
Recent record-breaking wildfires have emitted dangerous air pollutants, which can exacerbate lung or heart diseases. Last year's record Northwest heat wave resulted in hundreds of deaths from extreme heat. There's even been a push among health care officials to list "climate change" as an underlying cause for certain cases of medical conditions like asthma and mental health diagnoses like anxiety.
