More recently, I’ve been reading a lot more stories about the impact of climate change on human health, and though it is one more thing that gives me anxiety about existing in this world, I believe more people should know what we’re dealing with.

Several weeks ago, in July, I did a simple Google search after a spike in dengue cases locally and found an article from the United Nations (UN) on dengue and climate change.

That article referenced the World Health Organization (WHO) and stated that the global health organisation was warning that a spike in dengue cases globally was due to global warming.

“Global warming marked by higher average temperatures, precipitation, and longer periods of drought, could prompt a record number of dengue infections worldwide,” the article noted.

After reports of dengue in Guyana became more frequent, public officials, including Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, highlighted that the local surge in cases wasn’t unlike what was being experienced across the Americas. Again, I used the trusty search engine to see the dengue situation in other countries. In truth, the WHO noted that about three million cases were recorded in the Americas for the year so far (that is, up to July when I searched for information). This figure was significantly higher than usual.

And the WHO said several factors were contributing to the surge, including possibly climate change (specifically, global warming).

“The consequences of the current high transmission scenario depend on several factors, including the current capacities for a coordinated public health response and clinical management, the early start of the arbovirus season in the southern hemisphere, high mosquito densities, and the possible impact of climate change and El Nino phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, lack of vector surveillance and control activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and high proportion of the susceptible population for arboviruses in the region,” the WHO noted in July.

The references to climate change caught my attention. Though I still think many people don’t know what climate change is, I believe many more people are talking about it and connecting it to various fields. The impact of climate on agriculture, for example, is something not lost on Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders; in fact, it is a central focus in the bloc’s ambitious plan to slash its massive food import bill by 25% by 2025. So, learning more about climate change and human health is something I think I should be following.

And so I did.

I read more about the dengue situation and eventually contacted the former Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr. James Hospedales, for a story I published with the News Room. During our conversation, he affirmed that there is a substantial link between warmer temperatures and increased rainfall (both associated with climate change) and rising dengue cases. However, he acknowledged that other factors, such as poor sanitation, contribute to increasing dengue cases too.

Finding the links between climate change and public health and raising awareness about those links is part of Dr. Hospedales’s work through the EarthMedic Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) he founded. It was interesting hearing from him why more officials and people need to be wary of the greater threat to human health caused by climate change. An important point he raised is that when we are faced with new or exacerbating threats, it is often the most vulnerable people who feel the brunt of the impact.

Importantly, though, the worsening dengue situation is only a recent example of the nexus between climate change and human health. The WHO, for example, notes that increased heat can cause heat exhaustion and strokes but also lead to increased transmission of diseases (not unlike dengue) and, potentially, more accidents.

In a newsletter for Climate Tracker, my Jamaican colleague, Candice Stewart, also highlighted that breastfeeding women face climate threats such as water-related illnesses, heat illnesses, and respiratory illnesses. She also noted that floods and droughts – again, both disasters associated with climate change – impact food sustainability, and that itself can severely impact human health.

If you’re thinking this all seems daunting, just know that I feel the same. If it wasn’t enough that we had to worry about rising sea levels and finding enough money to protect ourselves from the worsening climate crisis, now we have to think about how that crisis affects our health. Maybe we (I) should have expected this all along, but now that I am learning more about it, it is a sobering journey.

If you would like to connect with me to discuss this column or any of my previous work, please email me at vish14ragobeer@gmail.com