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Global Warming: The Human Health Problem

A recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that global warming would pose "substantial" threats to human health in the coming decades. The EPA report, "Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health", enumerates the health threats to many communities from climate change across all fifty states including degraded air quality, increased spread of disease, rising temperatures, increased energy demand, and imposed limits on recreational activities.

Specifically, the EPA report cites the following health threats:

• Heart and lung diseases due to uncontrolled smog levels will be more of an issue, and it will become more difficult to control the spread of infectious diseases.
• More frequent and severe hurricanes, creating broader and more significant damage and economic consequences from those storms.
• Rising temperatures and prolonged heat waves will increase mortality rates, particularly among the elderly and disabled populations.
• Shrinking supplies of fresh water in the West will cost the country significantly both economically and agriculturally, and rural and small town communities will suffer as a result of the scarcity of this vital resource.

Learn more about the human health impacts of global warming by state:
AR, CO, FL, IN, ME, MN, MO, MT, ND, NH, NM, NV, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, VA.

Read the full EPA report.