How to reduce your impact on the environment
2. Spread of infectious diseases
With rising temperatures, Canadians could succumb to conditions never before seen or rarely treated in this country, like malaria and dengue fever. These diseases are showing up in the Caribbean and Central America, putting Canadians travelling to these regions at risk.
Lyme disease, which can cause chronic arthritis and neurological symptoms, is another health concern. As the weather gets warmer, ticks are able to survive in more northerly climates like Canada. "Right now it's just at the tip of southern Ontario around Lake Erie," says Abelsohn. "It's likely going to spread 200 km north and also into Saskatchewan and Alberta."
The warmer weather could also increase the risk of West Nile Virus, which can lead to meningitis, encephalitis and neurological complications. As temperatures rise, mosquito eggs can survive the winters rather than die off and WNV outbreaks tend to occur after severe droughts when rain and stagnant water sources return.
3. Climate change revealed in extreme weather
Floods, droughts and forest fires will also increase with climate change and bring on a whole host of health problems, including respiratory diseases, mental health disorders, toxicity and death.
"Severe windstorms, hailstorms and rainstorms are going to become more common and cause all sorts of problems -- disruption of water supplies, disruption of power supplies and destruction of homes, bridges and roads," says Abelsohn.
Extreme rain in Ontario in 2000, for example, caused an E. coli outbreak in Walkerton when wells near a pig farm were contaminated from manure, causing seven deaths and serious illness in 2,300 people. Meanwhile, in Kelowna, BC, summer forest fires in 2003 (the number of which increased significantly from a decade earlier) resulted in a 46 per cent increase in patient visits for respiratory conditions.
What you can do about climate change
Abelsohn recommends the following steps to minimize your impact on the environment:
1. At home: reduce energy consumption by changing lightbulbs to compact fluorescents, turn down the heat one or two degrees, wash clothes in colder water, hang laundry to dry, and properly insulate your home. Also, recycle as much as possible and buy produce close to home. "This all cuts down on carbon dioxide emissions," explains Abelsohn.
2. On the road: take public transportation, or use active transportation -- walking or cycling -- which not only cuts CO2 emissions, but also improves your lungs, heart, bones and muscles, and helps to manage your weight.
3. At a community level: talk to municipal and provincial leaders to introduce legislation. "We should all follow British Columbia's lead, which has suggested a carbon tax. That is going to be absolutely necessary because of the urgency of the situation," says Abelsohn.
"Climate change is going to impact our lives," warns Abelsohn. "It's an urgent situation and we need to both adapt to it and take steps ourselves and collectively to cut down our carbon dioxide emissions and be stewards for the planet for ourselves and future generations."
Check out 30 tips for eco-friendly living to learn how you can be kinder to the environment.
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