High Temperatures

Today the Center for American Progress released a summary detailing global warming’s projected effects on human health. Cases of vector-born diseases, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, heat waves, food scarcity, wildfires and floods all threaten to increase in a hotter world.

Fortunately several major health organizations will draw attention to the upcoming challenges. The Center for American Progess says:

“The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions holds a hearing this morning on the public health challenges of climate change. The World Health Organization has declared the theme of this week’s annual World Health Day ‘protecting health from climate change.’ And this week’s National Public Health Week is themed ‘Climate Change: Our Health in the Balance.’”

While solving some health issues will be difficult, others can be controlled with wise investments. For example, numbers of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, already rampant in parts of Africa, are rising the with the temperature. However, distributions of insecticide-filled nets in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya have produced miraculous drops in malaria cases.

Last night on a special charity episode of American Idol, British Prime Minster Gordon Brown announced that his government would supply the funds for 20 million mosquito bed nets. “That's one in six of the 120m bed nets the world needs," Brown said. “And I'm challenging the rest of the world - governments, business and anyone else who wants to end this killer disease - to join us in this effort by donating money for nets.”