Climate change refers to the rise in average surface temperatures on Earth. An enormous scientific consensus claims that climate change is due to the human use of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in air.
Major health impacts of climate change are predicted to occur due to the environmental changes, such as direct effects from heat, sea level rise, changes in precipitation that result in floods and drought, intensive hurricanes and storms, reduced air quality and excessive exposure to toxic environmental pollutants in addition to resolute organic pollutants, metals, and pesticides. A better understanding of how climate change will directly and indirectly alter human health is unfavourable to reduce or prevent illness and death.
The NIH has studied this issue and developed a report, A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change highlighting needs for 11 categories of results of climate change for human health
- Asthma
- Respiratory disease
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular disease and stroke
- Food borne diseases and nutrition
- Human developmental effects
- Mental health and stress-related disorders
- Neurological diseases
- Vector borne and zoophytic diseases
- Waterborne diseases
- Weather-related morbidity and mortality.
As part of its analysis, NIH observed its programs and issued a notice to the research community conveying an interest in supporting climate change research and listing the related funding programs it offers. NIH also developed a new program in 2010 exclusively dedicated to climate change research and awarded an initial round of grants.