Climate Effects and its Impact on Health
The Problem
Overuse of fossil fuels (gas, diesel, natural gas) releases greenhouse gasses (carbon dioxide, methane, nitric oxide) that are causing the Earth’s climate to warm. An increase in the Earth’s temperature will cause changes in our climate that will affect specific geographic locations in different ways. For instance, sea level will rise which will cause flooding in cities located along coastlines. Climatic disasters will intensify; those areas that have tornadoes and hurricanes will experience more severe conditions that will cause more damage and injure more people. Other areas will experience extreme heat and drought. These climatic changes will impact our health.
Unfortunately, there is no easy solution, but by reducing our consumption of fossil fuels we will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow warming trends. For information on how you can help to slow the trend, see the “What can I do to help?” section below. The Benton-Frankin Health District will educate the public about solutions and encourage our community to make changes. However, our main focus will be on adapting to the problem.
Adaptation to the Problem
Our community is already experiencing some climatic change and BFHD will focus on specific climate impacts that are occurring in our area and include (1) Extreme Heat (2) Wildfire Smoke and (3) Harmful Cyanobacteria (Algae) Toxins in our drinking water Because many of these conditions (like wildfires and harmful agal blooms) can develop rapidly, we need to prepare in advance to cope with these changes and that is why (4) emergency preparedness is also part of BFHD’s focus.
Where can I find specific information on these topics?
Because many of these topics are covered by other parts of our website, we encourage you to follow these links to learn more: