Climate change posits a serious health challenge in the present world giving rise to multiple issues in the medical conditions of the communities. Climatic scientists have unanimously agreed that there exists a severe climate change that has been dramatically impacted by human activities.
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Running Head:CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH POLICY1 Climate Change and Health Policy Student’s Name Institutional Affiliations
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH POLICY2 Climate Change and Health Policy Climate change posits a serious health challenge in the present world giving rise to multiple issues in the medical conditions of the communities. Climatic scientists have unanimously agreed that there exists a severe climate change that has been dramatically impacted by human activities. According to Planetary Health research, human activities that include reproduction is pushing the planet to the limit of exploitation of its resources (Gould & Rudolph, 2015).The processes of the human activities have led to changes in the planet's biosphere leading to climatic changes, pollution of air, soil and water as well as the loss of biodiversity. Population Affected Climatic changes evenly affect the human race as everyone subjected to harsh climatic conditions is likely to suffer the consequences. Climatic change has led to extreme heat during summer. States like Georgis, Arizona, North Carolina, New Mexico, and South Carolina recorded higher than normal average annual temperature. Extreme weather places stress to food- production systems. Climate change has been associated with causing 150,000 deaths annually (Manogaran & Lopez, 2018). Severe heat has been associated with about 7,415 deaths between 1999 and 2010. The poor, elderly and children are more susceptible to complications caused by climate change. According toManogaran & Lopez (2018), climate changes such as extreme heat lead to dehydration, aggravated cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. Racial fragmentation of the populations affected by climate change showed that Hispanics contributed 21% of the vulnerable
CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH POLICY3 population while the African Americans and Asian Americans contributed 52% and 32% respectively. Problem Statement Climate change has been associated with the continuous growth and exacerbation of health issues. Researchers have associated the rise of infectious diseases to the changes in climate. Climate change significantly increases the prevalence of vector-borne diseases where extreme weather plays a role in the magnitude, distribution and viral capacity of disease agents (Kim, 2016). The effects of climate change concerning human health pose a challenge that needs to be addressed through effecting relevant policies that assist in the control and rehabilitation of climate. Despite the control and rehabilitation policies, essential policies should be enacted to protect the already affected patients as well as those susceptible to the dangers of climatic change. Existing Policies Various states and Congress have enacted policiesthat are meantto manage the causatives of climate change. The Federal Law outlines the limitations of carbon emission that is required to manage the rate at which Green House gasses get emitted into the atmosphere. The state of San Francisco serves as a critical example of the policies and steps that have been taken to contain climate change and its effects on human health. The state's department of human health funds researches on the complications caused byclimate change and the assessment of the impact (Flood, Minkler, Hennessey Lavery, Estrada & Falbe, 2015). These studies are important
CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH POLICY4 as they contribute significantly to the formation of informed policymaking and the creation of strategic intervention. Suggested Policies and Necessary Steps The States need to address the various agents of climate change to assert working alternatives that can limit climate change. Climate change can be addressed through adaptation to the changes or mitigation of the changes. Mitigation approaches seek to evaluate the causative agents of climate change and establish interventions that can decrease their availability in the atmosphere. Green House Gases (GHGs) have been a leading contributing factor to climate change (County, 2017). Mitigation policies regarding GHGs should focus on alternative fuels such as green energy, and electric vehicles. More funds should be generated towards the research of alternative energy sources that would reduce fuel burning. Climate change could be handled through adaptation policies. The government should acknowledge that climate change is already impacting people's lives and affecting health. Understanding the level at which climate change has changed the health of the population would bekeytopreparationofstrategicinterventionsthatwouldincreasepeople'sresilience (Marinucci,Luber, Uejio, Saha & Hess, 2014). The government should set funds on research projects to assess the viable approaches that can aid individuals adapt to climate change. Interventions like setting out cooling stations to ensure temperatures remain within the desired range would save lives. The government should ensure that free access to health facilities on symptoms related to diseases exacerbated by climate change. Impact on the Health Care Delivery System
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH POLICY5 Implementing adaptation and mitigation policies would positively impact the health care delivery system. Mitigation policies work on a rehabilitative approach which would with time rehabilitate the climate back to normal. Rehabilitation of the climate would ensure manageable disease agents and transmission. Rehabilitative measures would be fundamental in plummeting the severity of climate change. A reduction in the severity of climate change would ensure a healthy population.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH POLICY6 References County, S. (2017). Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Sacramento County Climate Action Plan: Communitywide Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (Communitywide CAP). Flood, J., Minkler, M., Hennessey Lavery, S., Estrada, J., & Falbe, J. (2015). The collective impact model and it's potential for health promotion: overview and case study of a healthy retail initiative in San Francisco.Health Education & Behavior,42(5), 654-668. Gould, S., & Rudolph, L. (2015). Challenges and opportunities for advancing work on climate change and public health.International journal of environmental research and public health,12(12), 15649-15672. Kim, E. J. (2016). The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment, by us global change research program.Journal of the American Planning Association,82(4), 418-419. Manogaran, G., & Lopez, D. (2018). Disease surveillance system for big climate data processing anddenguetransmission.InClimateChangeandEnvironmentalConcerns: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice(pp. 427-446). IGI Global. Marinucci, G., Luber, G., Uejio, C., Saha, S., & Hess, J. (2014). Building resilience against climate effects—a novel framework to facilitate climate readiness in public health agencies.International journal of environmental research and public health,11(6), 6433- 6458.