Climate Change Is Happening, and It’s Making Us Sick
Jenna Ryan
4 December 2019
Kingston City Hall, Image by Daniel Vorndran, Wikimedia Commons
Global emissions have been continuously rising and are starting to reach record breaking levels. Each year that passes becomes warmer than the last. With the number of problems that climate change causes, world leaders and politicians have been continuously called upon to take action to solve this mounting crisis. Rising temperatures and sea levels are commonly understood as effects of climate change, but the massive threat of climate change on human health is only recently starting to be understood and discussed.
Climate change worsens food and water shortages, exacerbates diseases, and causes other indirect health risks. Rising temperatures and increasing emissions put people in danger of various illnesses and health problems. The environmental effects of climate change have been discussed for years as long-term problems. However, the effects of climate change on our health are worse than imagined, and they are happening right now.
The Ontario Climate Change and Health Modelling Study[1]reports that individuals are at risk of heat-related illnesses as well as respiratory and cardiovascular issues due to rising temperatures and a decrease in the quality of air. The emissions that cause global warming, alongside air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and ozone, are responsible for 4.2 million deaths each year. To make matters worse, 91% of the world’s population lives in places where the quality of air does not meet the guidelines set by the World Health Organization. Poor air quality accounts for many cases of pneumonia, stroke, lung, and cardiovascular related deaths and illnesses every year.
Heat related deaths and illnesses are also becoming dangerously more common. In Montreal last summer, 66 people died due to heat related deaths during the city’s highest ever recorded temperatures for the month of July. When core body temperature reaches 40.5 degrees Celsius, systemic organ failure takes place. Due to rising temperatures around the globe, especially in urban areas, heat related deaths and illnesses will become more common.
According to the Kingston Climate Action Plan, the number of days with temperatures over thirty degrees is estimated to rise from four days a year to thirty days a year. Paul MacLatchy, the city’s environmental director says rising temperatures are the biggest public health risk for those living here. “We’re not able to deal with heat well, and we need to be able to manage that risk.”
Dr. Colleen Davison of the Department of Health Sciences at Queen’s states that in Kingston, rising temperatures can lead to heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and that prolonged exposure to intense heat can be dangerous to young children and the elderly population since they are more susceptible to heat related illnesses and potential death.
“Elderly people are more at risk because they lack a certain mobility and their health may be a little more frail,” says Dr. Davison.
Socioeconomic inequality also impacts who is most at risk. Those who are living in apartments and houses that do not have air conditioning are at extreme risk of overheating in their own homes. The KFL&A Public Health Department has issued a list of “Cool Down Here” locations where individuals who may not have access to air conditioning can go to escape the hot and humid weather in Kingston and the surrounding areas.
Mr. MacLatchy says that Kingston’s homeless population is the most at risk to the health effects of climate change. Because they lack adequate housing, they are not able to protect themselves from the elements and are more at risk during storms and periods of extreme heat.
Another dangerous health effect facing Kingston is an increase in precipitation. The Climate Action Plan reports an increased amount of rain and higher risks of flooding. This is a problem already affecting the city. Recently, on October 31st, Kingston experienced torrential rainfall that led to many roads and streets being flooded.
On the topic of the rising precipitation levels Dr. Davison says “because it has been so rapid a change we haven’t been able to necessarily adapt. In Kingston, we’re seeing flooded basements, flooded streets, infrastructure being completely inundated with water.” The damage caused by flooding and high precipitation levels can pose some dangers to those living here.
Kingston’s unique location next to Lake Ontario puts it at an especially high risk for flooding and wind storms. MacLatchy says that storm and sanitary sewer systems are at risk of being inundated during a storm due to the high waves from the lake. If these infrastructures become overwhelmed due to precipitation it can impact water quality, water quantity, the ecosystem and people's access to amenities. The Ontario Climate Change Report also details that beaches can become contaminated due to high precipitation. This contamination is linked to high numbers of bacteria causing ear, throat, and nose infections.
Climate change also exacerbates the spread of communicable and vector-borne diseases. Ontario is particularly at risk for diseases spread through mosquitoes and ticks, specifically West Nile Virus and Lyme disease. Mosquitoes and ticks are susceptible to climate change because their breeding habits and life spans depend greatly on the climate. A hotter, wetter, and more humid climate provides an ideal environment for the transfer of disease. In recent years as climate change has gotten worse, new diseases such as the Zika virus and Ebola have emerged or have threatened new regions. Existing diseases are also expected to spread due to warmer and wetter climates.
There are also indirect effects of climate change on health. Rising sea levels and acidification of oceans can have a major effect on aquaculture and fishing industries. Droughts can shorten growing seasons and destroy crops. This can lead to food shortages and food insecurity across the world. Heavy precipitation and rising water temperatures can cause contamination which leads to unsafe drinking water or water shortages.
Although Mr. MacLatchy does not see food and water shortages as a risk to Kingston in the short term he does believe that those living north of the city on private water sources will experience shortages. He also thinks that, although food shortages are a current risk facing the population, low-income individuals may not be able to afford food that is affected by climate change such as fresh produce.
In March of 2019, Kingston was the first municipality in Ontario to declare a climate emergency. This means the city is actively looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The city identified climate leadership as a key priority in the four-year strategic planning process. They have developed an action plan on how to adapt to the new climate and how to reduce the city’s climate impact
“We’re starting the electrification of our transit fleet, which is a huge step for us. We’re putting in place a new program to put in building standards so when new buildings are built, they are net-zero or close to net-zero emissions,” said MacLatchy
The city is also continuing other initiatives and working on creating new ones that will reduce its climate impact. The city is also developing a climate change management strategy that details the measures needed to be taken to reach the targeted carbon levels.
Although Kingston has made active moves to combat climate change, both Mr. MacLatchy and Dr. Davison believe that the provincial and federal governments are not taking enough action.
“I think at the federal level they are focused on [climate change] in the right way but I think they could do more. I think the current provincial government has retreated from the plan that the previous government set in place to combat the issue,” said MacLatchy
“To know that our government is not being more proactive in very concrete ways, not just for Canadians but for all people is hard to understand,” added Dr. Davison.
As climate change becomes more and more discussed among governments and global leaders, it is evident that climate change should be addressed with public health in mind. Provincial and federal governments will need to do more in the coming years to address and combat these problems.