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The month of November is critical for both health and climate change.
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Applied Technology Review | Thursday, November 10, 2022
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Health emergencies have long been evidently caused by climate change and the disasters it has sparked.
FREMONT, CA:The month of November is critical for both health and climate change. The United Nations climate change conference COP27 in Egypt in 2022 will build on previous commitments to urgently decrease greenhouse gas emissions, foster resilience, and prepare for, despite the hurdles, the unavoidable repercussions of climate change.
Long recognised as a health emergency, climate change and the issues it has caused. The WHO and its partners have long raised the alarm, but progress has been dangerously patchy and glacially slow. The WHO European Region saw an increase in heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires, all of which affected the health of our population.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union, the region had the hottest June and August on record. In addition to experiencing extreme heat, the Region battled devastating wildfires that polluted our air, killed numerous people, often those working in emergency services, displaced numerous others, and destroyed vast tracts of land for years to come. These fires resulted in the highest carbon emissions since 2007.
Heatwaves Kill:Extreme temperature swings influence how people approach various ailments like cardiovascular, pulmonary, and cerebrovascular disease and disorders associated with diabetes. The most common cause of weather-related death in the European Region is heat stress, which occurs when the body cannot cool itself. Extreme temperatures can also worsen chronic ailments, such as diabetes-related conditions and diseases of the heart, lungs, and brain.
At least 15 000 individuals are expected to die specifically from the heat in 2022, according to country data that have been received thus far. Among them, over the three months of the summer, health officials reported nearly 4000 deaths in Spain, more than 1000 in Portugal, more than 3200 in the United Kingdom, and roughly 4500 deaths in Germany.
As more nations report excessive mortality from heat, it is anticipated that this estimate will rise. For instance, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) of France estimated that between 1st June and 22nd August 2022, more than 11 000 more deaths occurred than during the same period in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
These numbers appear to be explained by the mid-July heatwave, following an initial heatwave episode as early as mid-June.
Over the years 1961 to 2021, temperatures in Europe rose dramatically, on average by 0.5 °C every ten years. According to research released by the World Meteorological Organisation, this area is warming up the fastest (WMO). In the past 50 years, extreme temperatures were responsible for about 148 000 fatalities in the European Region. We have lost at least another 15,000 lives in that time.
High-impact weather and climate events in 2021 directly impacted approximately 500,000 people and resulted in hundreds of fatalities. Storms or floods made up about 84 per cent of these occurrences.