Climate Change Patterns Around the World - Essay Example

Global Environment and Public Health Global Environment and Public Health Climate change causes negative public health impacts that depend on effects of the temperature changes on the environment. Climate experts claim that parts of the world will experience different public health issues depending on the impact of climate change (IPCC, 2014). For example, developing countries will experience different public health problems from those in developed nations. Public Health Changes in Developed and Developing Countries The effects of climate change on public health in developed and developing world differ because of the economic and social deference.

Developing nations are more vulnerable to climate change because of poor economic status. Poor economic status hinders developing countries from effectively addressing environmental issues. For example, people rely on natural resources for their foods and sources of income in sub-Saharan region. There are higher chances that many people in this region will die of hunger and malnutrition when they face droughts. In addition, lack of education and advanced health facilities make people in developing nations vulnerable to climate change illnesses such as cholera, especially when they experience floods.

On the contrary, developed nations have higher economic status because they can afford effective technologies to reduce the effects of climate change (IPCC, 2014). Apart from economic status, developed and developing counties will experience different effects climate change due to geographical differences. Developed countries experience different climate characteristic from developed nation because of their different locations. People are vulnerable to diseases such skin cancer when it is hot in areas that experience extreme weather conditions.

This especially affects those who work outdoors. For example, during summer in the US, more people are vulnerable to diseases caused by hot weather conditions compared to people in sub-Saharan regions with no extreme weather conditions. However, due to the effective healthcare systems in developed nations, less people will be affected compared to developing countries (Gross, 2002).Future Effects of Climate Change on Public Health If climate change becomes more severe in future, public health problems will become more severe especially in resource poor countries.

Developed countries have very high population compared to their resources. Such countries will face a serious shortage of important resources such water if climate change becomes severe. This will mostly occur in urban areas with the highest populations. Water shortages will cause poor sanitation which will in turn lead to higher vulnerability to water borne illnesses. According to the OECD report, 1.4 billion people will not access basic resources by the year 2050 if climate becomes worse (IPCC, 2014).

In addition, climate change will increase the prevalence of other health problems such as obesity. Studies confirm that inability to tolerate high temperature cause obesity (IPCC, 2014). Incidence of chronic illnesses such as cancer caused by UV-Rays will also increase in future (Campbell-Lendrum & Corvalan, 2007).Mitigations and Response Plans Various mitigation plans have been implemented to reduce climate change effects. One of the response plans includes the introduction of grant programs.

The programs works by providing financial support to projects that conserve environmental resources. They enable communities to meet their financial needs while addressing environmental issues. The other response plan is the Montreal protocol. This is an agreement signed by various countries in order to reduce ozone depleting substance in the air (UNDP, 2014). If I were to design a plan to address the climate change issues, the plan would be similar to the existing ones. However, I would work on improving the monitoring strategies to ensure the effectiveness of the plans.

Many of the plans are effective. However, they fail to achieve the mitigation goals due to poor monitoring processes. Conclusively, climate change is among that factors that cause public health issues globally. Developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change effects. This is because of their scarce economic and basic resources required to address the public health issues on time. Improving monitoring strategies for the existing response plans will effectively reduce climate change impacts in future.

ReferencesCampbell-Lendrum, D. & Corvalan, C. (2007). Climate change and developing-country cities: Implications for Environmental Health and Equity. Journal of Urban Health, 84(1): 109-117. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1891643/Gross, J. (2002). The severe impacts of climate change in developing countries. Medicine & Global Survival, 7 (2). Retrieved from http://ippnw.org/pdf/mgs/7-2-gross.pdfIPCC. (2014). Human health: Impacts, Adaptations, and Co-Benefits. Retrieved from: http://ipcc-wg2.

gov/AR5/images/uploads/WGIIAR5-Chap11_FGDall.pdfUNDP. (2014). Protecting the Ozone layer and safeguarding the Global Climate. Retrieved from http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/environmentandenergy/focus_areas /ozone_and_climate.html