Climate Change Aggravated By Heatwaves In The Northern Hemisphere
The impact of climate change is already a reality and its effects have intensified more and more. The month of July showed this process very clearly from the heat wave that hit a series of countries on three continents: Europe, Asia and North America.
According to the European observatory Copernicus, July was the hottest month ever recorded in the history of the planet, surpassing the last world record of 2019 by 0.33ºC. With this intensification, UN Secretary-General António Guterres claims that the world has surpassed the level of warming, reaching a state of “global boiling”.
“The Earth’s atmosphere is taking on a greater amount of energy and one of the ways the climate system dissipates this energy is through the increase in extreme weather events”, explains Paulo Artaxo, a professor at the Department of Applied Physics at USP’s Institute of Physics.
This episode impacted not only nature, but also seriously affected the health of the population in these regions with temperatures above 30°C. Paulo Saldiva, a professor at the Department of Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine at USP, explains that thinking about climate change along with health can favor behavior change.
In addition, there is an unequal impact on the health and experience of society, since the poorest and most peripheral populations are more vulnerable to climate change. Helena Ribeiro, a professor at the Department of Environmental Health at the Faculty of Public Health at USP, calls the phenomenon climate injustice.
biological reaction
The comfort zone and thermal preparation varies according to each country and each region within the country. Saldiva places each of these populations on a scale of ideal temperature and extremes of hot and cold – which cause an increase in mortality –, in addition to the adaptation capacity of each country. “New York, for example, is more prepared for the cold than for the heat. There is also an acclimatization process within the same country; in São Paulo, the thermal discomfort starts when the temperature rises from 26 degrees, which is the perfect comfort zone for Teresina”, exemplifies the professor.
The moment the climatic conditions extrapolate the predisposition of the human being to adapt, the organism starts to react and get sick. Unlike common sense, Saldiva points out that hypothermia and hyperthermia do not summarize or predominate the causes of death due to extreme temperatures, they represent the absolute minority.
In most cases, patients die of natural causes triggered by a variety of health complications. For example, kidney failure or urinary infection caused by dehydration, as well as cardiac consequences caused by intense vasodilation and heart overload. Thus, Professor Helena Ribeiro points to the elderly, children and pregnant women as the most vulnerable, in addition to people who already have chronic health comorbidities. “In social terms, people with lower incomes are often the most affected, as they live in areas at greater risk of floods and landslides, more polluted and with less urban trees”, points out Helena.
Brazilian forecasts
As it is a tropical country and is already within the limits of temperature, Artaxo comments that Brazil becomes even more fragile to climate change. In regions like Teresina, where thermometers can already reach 40ºC during the summer, rises of up to 48ºC are expected, with serious consequences for the health of the population, according to Artaxo.
Helena reveals that Brazil is more sensitive to cold waves than heat, given that, unlike the Mediterranean climate in southern Europe and western United States, the country’s tropical climate has rainy summers that mitigate the phenomenon. In addition, there are some cultural adaptations, such as light clothing and frequent showers.
However, the professor emphasizes the lack of infrastructure still faced by the health system to offer air-conditioned environments for both professionals and patients. “The Brazilian system is already quite overloaded and if there is a worsening of heat waves, it will be necessary to train health personnel”, highlights Helena.
Actions
Saldiva states that prevention activity at the primary care level is central to preparing the health system in the face of environmental conditions, in order to transmit alerts to the population. “Look at the weather forecast, they say if you’ll have to take an umbrella for the day, but they don’t have a health forecast”, compares the professor to demonstrate the importance of a prevention policy.
The direct relationship between climate change and human health can bring a new point of view for facing and raising awareness of this global crisis, in Saldiva’s opinion. With the health of individuals and loved ones at stake, the professor reflects on the greatest impact on the population’s consumption habits and profiles.