Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), in a recent publication, analysing global warming, points out some of the health hazards caused by Greenhouse Gases.
"Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary greenhouse gas, have risen by 29 percent since the mid-nineteenth century and are now at their highest point in the last 150,000 years. Global CO2 emissions have nearly quadrupled just since 1950, due to increased fossil fuel consumption for industry, transportation, and electric utilities. Worldwide carbon emissions reached a new annual high of 6.25 billion tons in 1996. Other greenhouse gases - including methane, clorofluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide - are produced in steadily increasing quantities by various industrial and agricultural practices. We are in effect adding extra layers of insulation to the greenhouse."
PSR also notes that "Potential effects of climate change include the spread of a wide range of infectious diseases, among them such mosquito-borne diseases as malaria and dengue fever."
They emphasize that "encephalitis, hantavirus and malaria may become more frequent in the U.S. as a result of changing climate."
"Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary greenhouse gas, have risen by 29 percent since the mid-nineteenth century and are now at their highest point in the last 150,000 years. Global CO2 emissions have nearly quadrupled just since 1950, due to increased fossil fuel consumption for industry, transportation, and electric utilities. Worldwide carbon emissions reached a new annual high of 6.25 billion tons in 1996. Other greenhouse gases - including methane, clorofluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide - are produced in steadily increasing quantities by various industrial and agricultural practices. We are in effect adding extra layers of insulation to the greenhouse."
PSR also notes that "Potential effects of climate change include the spread of a wide range of infectious diseases, among them such mosquito-borne diseases as malaria and dengue fever."
They emphasize that "encephalitis, hantavirus and malaria may become more frequent in the U.S. as a result of changing climate."