Smog, Heat Waves May Contribute to Big Rise in Illness

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/17/589/

Smog, Heat Waves May Contribute to Big Rise in Illness
by Jane Kay



Higher temperatures over the coming decades are expected to cause more smoggy days and heat waves, contributing to a greater number of illnesses and deaths in the United States, according to international climate scientists. Severe heat waves — characterized by stagnant masses of warm air and consecutive nights with high minimum temperatures — will intensify in the United States and Canada, according to the data on North America released Monday by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Southern California, the Southwest and the upper Midwest are already experiencing drought. Late in the century, in Los Angeles, the number of heat wave days is projected to increase from 12 days a year to between 44 and 95 days, the report said. The number of heat wave days in Chicago is expected to increase by 25 percent.

Just how much people and ecosystems suffer in North America, scientists reported, depends on how well greenhouse gases are controlled. And, the scientists cautioned, it depends on how well they plan for and try to prevent the damage.

“Without increased investments in countermeasures, hot temperatures and extreme weather are likely to cause increased adverse health impacts,” including effects from heat, storms, pollution and infectious disease, the report said.

Adding to the problem is that the Baby Boomer population is aging as global warming worsens, increasing the number of people most at risk of dying in heat waves.

Global warming is already affecting people’s health, said Kristi Ebi, an epidemiologist from Virginia and lead author of a chapter on human health written for the international science panel.

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