The EPA came out with a detailed report yesterday that links global warming to health threats. The report is titled Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research are the ones responsible for writing this, with Janet L. Gamble from the U.S. EPA as lead author.
Some of the language of the report paints a picture of potential pressures:
Cold days and cold nights are very likely to become much less frequent over North America. Substantial areas of North America are likely to have more frequent droughts of greater severity. Hurricane wind speeds, rainfall intensity and storm surge levels are likely to increase. Other changes include measurable sea-level rise and increases in the occurrence of coastal and riverine flooding.
The challenges presented by population growth, an aging population, migration patterns, and urban and coastal development will be compounded by changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme climate-related events. Climate change will affect where people choose to live, work, and play. Among likely climate changes are changes in the intensity and frequency of precipitation, more frequent heat waves, less frequent cold waves, more persistent and extreme drought conditions and associated water shortages, changes in minimum and maximum temperatures, potential increases in the intensity and frequency of extreme tropical storms, measurable sea-level rise and increases in the occurrence of coastal and riverine flooding.
The report also suggest that the United States should develop and deploy strategies for mitigating greenhouse gases and for adapting to unavoidable individual and collective impacts of climate change. This is a well-written, thorough and sobering report that lays out the health impacts from this global change.
