Climate change is bringing numerous alterations to our planet that severely impact human health.
On one hand, pollution and waste release often toxic substances, endangering human health. On the other hand, our bodies are also affected by the climate changes themselves, as highlighted by a new study reported by The Conversation.
More Dangerous Brain Diseases
As further explained by ScienceAlert, brain diseases exacerbated by rising temperatures and humidity include not only schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s but also migraines, strokes, meningitis, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and even multiple sclerosis. Human evolution took place in Africa, with an ideal temperature range of 20 to 26°C and humidity between 20 to 80%. However, in the changing climate, our brains struggle to regulate their temperature.
These issues result in the aforementioned disorders, which have a serious impact on virtually the entire human population. Heatwaves further damage faulty connections in the brain and can increase blood viscosity due to dehydration, leading to conditions like strokes. Such brain diseases are becoming more frequent and intense globally as climate change and rising temperatures persist. Complications can be worse depending on the environment, with cities being significantly hotter and lacking greenery, which can catastrophically affect an individual’s mental health. The prognosis is dire: currently, around 60 million people worldwide have epilepsy, but this number is expected to rise to 150 million by 2050, partly due to the aging population.
Worsening Practically Everything Another study demonstrates that climate change, primarily caused by human activity, has serious impacts across various sectors and presents enormous challenges. However, it seems humanity is struggling to effectively combat these changes, with each year breaking not only temperature records but also record levels of harmful emissions.
Almost half of 2023 surpassed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, beyond which scientists believe climate impacts are likely to intensify and become catastrophic. The year 2023 has seen extensive wildfires in Canada, extreme droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, unprecedented summer heatwaves in Europe, the United States, and China, as well as record-breaking warm winters in Australia and South America.
