La Trinidad, Benguet — Detrimental effects of climate change caused mostly by humankind’s meddling with the ways of nature can lie listless, but once these break out, can exact retribution, one deleterious repercussion being re-emergence of old and emergence of new diseases.
Taking lightly connection between climate change caused by human footprint and emerging health problems like the pandemic can be a gross misunderstanding of present events in Cordillera, the lowlands or elsewhere in the country, a ranking official of the Benguet State University (BSU) explained in an exclusive talk with this Herald Express columnist, last Monday.
Climate change, in short, was explained as referring to movements in weather condition and the patterns of extreme weather events. Such movements and patterns may lead to health threats of humans, and as a result, will multiply existing health problems.
Environmental and social determinants of health, more particularly including water, air, food and shelter are negatively affected by climate change, direct damage cost to health increases while the ability to respond to such damages contracts.
Climate change can alter the cleanness of air and drinking water, sufficiency of food, safe shelter and safe immediate environs.
Nature is crammed of microorganisms that when disturbed from hibernation can react violently with humans.
Dr. Silvestre Aben, Vice-President, Business Affairs, of BSU, hit the nail on the head answering affirmatively the core questions, “Does climate change has any relation to infectious diseases?” Or their emergence? How?
“They, (climate change and infectious diseases) have a relation,” the relation being serious, Professor Aben said and went on to explain that, definitely, “human health is compromised by climate change.”
Over the last 50 years, human activities, particularly burning of fuels which Prof. Aben emphasized, have released quantities of carbon dioxide in the lower atmosphere, affecting world climate.
“Climate change is when the environment gets hotter because of the increasing parts per millions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to burning of fossils. When the environment gets hotter, human health will be compromised. Many diseases will occur,” Prof. Aben said, from his deep explanation.
Prof. Aben, like many other scientists, point to a factor that humans, or human activities, have increased abundance of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. And what is the impact of it on human health?
Warmer temperatures can speed up the spread of infectious diseases, Prof. Aben said, explaining, “infectious diseases love high temperature.”
It’s like when soil is warm, a seed can germinate, exactly similar with what happens to a dormant virus.
Global warming can also bring spikes in diseases.
A heating environment, aggravated by extreme weather conditions that occur increasingly, can alter the seasons when infectious diseases occur or recur, including its intensity of infecting people.
Carbon dioxide was explained by the professor as a troubling concern, it being a heat-trapping gas, hence primarily responsible in warming, but there are also others contributing to climate heat, like methane, ozone and nitrous oxide.
Most of the carbon dioxide in the air is released from “burning of fossils,” Prof. Aben said. And other human activities like deforestation, cement production and biomass burning.
“That is why they (authorities and environmental civil societies) are asking people to plant trees to curb atmosphere carbon dioxide,” the professor noted.
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Carbon dioxide will remain elevated for centuries until governments worldwide find economical ways to bring it down to acceptable levels.
“As far as I am concerned, the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this 2020 is 409.8 parts per million (ppm). It was 350ppm when I conducted a study on rice plant growth in Australia in 2000, “Aben disclosed.
“Plants can survive even at 1000ppm. Even humans. But to reach 1000ppm will take another 50 years,” Prof. Aben explained. “And total annihilation if carbon dioxide keeps on increasing,” he added.
And disturbing outright, the natural flow of environment is reshaping thoughts of scientists like Aben that it “might make pandemics more likely.”
Changes in the pattern of transmission of infectious diseases are a likely major consequence of climate change.
Their somber thinking is based on the fact that two-thirds of all infectious diseases in humans have their origin in animals and scientists caution that the ability of a virus to convert and adapt from animals to human system maybe “rare”.
But the expansion of human footprint on Nature’s natural way is making that “rare” event much more likely.
They point to the coronavirus which is believed to have originated from bats.
It’s fair to wonder about plausible scenario of scientists that humankind’s relentless encroachment on dwindling wild spaces and disturbing its inhabitants contribute to triggering spread of epidemics.
Disturbance of species including their habitat by activities of humans and climate change could be raising the risk of potentially pandemic-causing diseases passing from animals to humans, diseases that can have major impact on world health.
Spill-over of diseases from animals to people can occur in various ways. It can involve being bitten by the animal, consumption of raw or undercooked animal meat, drinking of its milk or through water contaminated by the animal.
Indirect contamination of a certain disease from an animal can also happen if people come in contact with surfaces touched by an infected animal.
It can also be that transmission can occur through an intermediary (go-between) specie that can carry the disease without being sick of it. Such transmission may be classified into three categories: endemic, epidemic or pandemic.
According to the Department of Health in CAR (DOH-CAR) car, an illness is categorized as “epidemic” in proportion when its impact on populace in a lone community, say a barangay, or region is clearly in excess of what is normally expected to occur.
In the case of the term pandemic, DOH-CAR describes a world-wide occurrence of a single and new disease.
“Endemic” disease, DOH-CAR said, pertains to continuous presence in an area and its population.
In the consensus of scientists, society must possess a united will to considerably reduce or eliminate hazardous factors emanating from human footprints on nature that result in health risk to humans.
Given the fact that the rate of development is a ravenous taste by humans, scientists then see that such must also be complemented with adaptation, changing lifestyle and systems to cope with a warming environment. – Bony A. Bengwayan
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