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The last few years have been the warmest on record, our planet is increasingly subject to wildfires, hurricanes and floods. The direct impact of climate change can be devastating, as can the effect on our health.
Rising temperatures and poor air quality bring higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Water and air borne diseases can increase, food and water supplies be disrupted, toxin levels grow, along with UV radiation.
UV rays are by far the most common cause of skin cancer and their level has grown in recent decades. Human activity added ozone depleting chemicals to the atmosphere, reducing the ozone layer’s filtering effect.
Growth In Skin Cancer
That skin cancer has become one of the most common cancers is no secret. This has long been associated with the increase in overseas holidays and sun exposure since the 1960s, a cause which is significant but not the sole issue.
Ozone depletion in the same time frame has added to the burden, as highlighted by initiatives to halt the loss. The Montreal Protocol is perhaps the best known, an international agreement to regulate the production of damaging chemicals.
Researchers have suggested this could prevent many millions of skin cancer cases in decades to come. Their view is based on computer modelling, rather than data but still reflects the deadly link.
Climate change also brings disruption to health services. Food supplies are at risk, the amount of healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables we eat could be reduced, instability and poverty could spread.
An Interlinked World
In the same way that we can not separate the causes of increased skin cancer, we can not separate causes and outcomes of climate change from each other.
We are only beginning to understand how ozone levels, cloud formation and temperature rises interact. The effect on plant and marine ecosystems may seem evident but we have more to learn on this and the outcome of different elements combining.
Our planet’s system has evolved over billions of years, with changes in one place affecting countries the other side of the globe. Behavioural changes by the dominant species also have a global effect.
Higher rates of migration led by climate change could disrupt health systems, or increase the spread of disease. The flow of finance around the world may be curtailed, as more of this is used for local necessity.
Finding Solutions
Even if the Montreal Protocol is successful, 30 years may be needed to see ozone levels return to those of the 1980s. They are vital but large scale plans have caveats, there is no instant, global fix.
In some ways, individuals hold the key to helping nature recover. If everyone on the planet makes a small change, that’s 8 billion changes.
Leave the car and walk, make a video call instead of travelling, avoid waste, including food waste. Fancy a take away, a portion of fish and chips has one sixth of the carbon footprint of a cheeseburger, healthier options even less.
There are many actions we can take to save energy, or reduce emissions and waste, which may feel futile but are not. They are fast acting and if enough of us join in, they can have a greater curative outcome than international agreements.
Ensuring future generations have a planet to live on is rational and along the way, we can reduce the illnesses they are subjected to. Seeing skin cancer rates fall would be welcome, along with many unwanted diseases.