Climate change is a global threat:
A reminder today on Earth Day
This Earth Day, we want to remind you that climate change is a real and serious threat to the world we live in.
Climate change is defined as the long-term shifts in weather conditions and patterns of extreme weather events caused by a rise in greenhouse gas emissions that trap the sun’s heat. These weather patterns include things like hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, drought, flooding, shifting ocean currents, and more. The consequences of these changes impact nearly everything (and everyone) on the planet.
Climate change is an environmental issue that directly affects human health. As climate patterns shift, it leads to the expansion of the geographic distribution of diseases, particularly those spread by vectors (like ticks and mosquitoes) and those that are waterborne and foodborne (such as cholera, giardia, and more).
The World Health Organization estimates there will be 250,000 additional deaths annually from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress caused by climate change alone between 2030 and 2050.
Lastly, climate change is an expensive problem. The World Health Organization estimates that we spend $2-$4 BILLION dollars per year on mitigating damages caused by natural disasters, health impacts of climate change, and more. This includes agriculture losses, property losses, as well as healthcare costs. More than that, it is estimated that an additional 8.7 million lives are lost prematurely every year as a result of carbon emissions and fossil fuel pollution.
This year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, a 3675 page document, details the far-reaching damages of climate change, for the environment, for ecosystems, and for humans. We aren’t going to sugarcoat it: we are in dire straits. Action needs to happen now, on a global scale.
The first step to change is awareness. We also must hold ourselves, our governments, and the companies we support accountable in order to effect the radical change we need to combat these devastating consequences of climate change.
(and yes, we plan to do much more discussion on these topics in the future, don’t worry!)
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