Will this be an ice breaker, literally and figuratively, for more real action to reduce pollution? On Monday, July 3, the world reached the highest recorded average temperature ever. It hit the 17.01 degrees Celsius mark, which translated to 62.62 degrees Fahrenheit, based on data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. That topped the previous record of 16.92 C (62.46 F) from August 2016. That was really hot news but not in good way, assuming that you are a human being and not aPompeii worm.
Indeed, the answer to the question, ‘Hot enough for you,’ was bleeping yes across many parts of the world this past week. That includes those in the Southern and Western parts of the U.S. that have been facing triple digit temperatures on the Fahrenheit scale. And those in China, the U.K., Mexico, Northern Africa, India, and other locations that have been scorched by the Easy Bake Oven that the Earth has become lately.
But, all you climate change deniers out there, go on claiming that the world is not facing an environmental emergency. And keep trying to overlook the finding that 99.9% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that human activity such as spewing pollution into the air has been contributing to climate change, according to a October 19, 2021, publication the journal Environmental Research Letters.
It’s unclear whether breaking this temperature record will simply sound like a broken record or will actually spur some more real action from politicians and business leaders who have been dragging their feet and knuckles all these years. Listening to scientists hasn’t exactly been in vogue these days among many political leaders. But here’s the thing about science: it’s about reporting what the facts and evidence show. And the facts show that pollution is harmful to human health. Denying facts and evidence can only work for so long.
Such increasing global temperatures do have massive health implications. You know that Canadian wildfire smoke that you’ve been dealing with in recent weeks? Be prepared for such air quality warnings to become a more and more common occurrence as hotter temps and drier conditions make it more likely for brush and vegetation to catch fire.
And warmer temperatures have been a ticking time bomb so to speak as well. The tick population has been thriving with warmer and shorter Winters, which really sucks and bites at the same time. In biting and sucking, ticks can pass along lovely pathogens such as the Powassan Virus and the microbes that cause Lyme Disease. Climate change can also change and expand the habitat of other disease carrying organisms such as mosquitoes and Kissing Bugs.
Then there’s what more heat can do directly to humans. It can worsen a range of different chronic medical conditions such as respiratory and heart diseases. It can lead to things like heat stroke. Plus, feeling hotter in a non-sexual way can really adversely affect your mental health.
All of this is just the tip of the iceberg, which by the way may be melting with increasing temperatures. Higher temperatures can trigger very complex changes in weather systems, leading to more severe weather patterns that, in turn, can have very complex health effects. Plus, this is one arena where unfortunately records are made to be broken. The highs seen on July 3 are likely to be surpassed in the near future as political and business leaders continue to treat the Earth like a spouse who has been asking for marriage counseling for years. With each passing day, month, and year of not doing enough about reducing pollution, the chances of hitting a point of no return gets greater and greater.
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