A growing body of evidence suggests that climate change is threatening the survival of Earth's "life", and that life on Earth may be heading for an "irreversible" abyss if the situation continues.
From the climate change in 2022, we can see that extreme high temperatures are very common in the world, which is impacting on human life.
For example, in 2022, many areas of India experienced high temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), and extreme heat waves were of long duration and high intensity. By preliminary count, nearly 100 people have died as a result of extreme heat.
Moreover, Natural Climate Change has again published research showing that climate disasters exacerbate 58% of human infections. These findings highlight further human health risks from continued climate change.
But beyond that, something far worse is on the horizon with global warming, which could be even deadlier for humans.
Climate Threat 'Looms Large' in 2022
In 2021, though, a number of countries have implemented the Paris Agreement, as well as what we call La Nina weather patterns to change the climate, it is clear that humans have not made "real" progress in changing the climate, which has led to the escalation of climate extremes.
It is also true that the climate threat is "looming" in 2022.
Satellite monitoring data show that in June 2022, Central Asia, South Asia, North America, Europe, Asia and other places have experienced surface high temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), which is quite rare.
Humans Are More Dangerous! 58% of Pathogens "Mutated"
Indeed, the news is not good, after all, the pathogens that have an impact on human beings are constantly strengthening, so the threat to life must be the "double effect".
According to the Nature, the previous research on pathogens was mainly focused on specific pathogen groups (such as bacteria or viruses), responses to specific disasters (such as increased heat waves or floods), and transmission types (such as food sources or water sources). However, the overall threat of climate change and related diseases to humans is unknown.
The study, which looked at 3,213 empirical cases, linked 286 unique human pathogen diseases to 10 climate hazards, such as warming, flooding or drought.
It found that, on the overall list of reliably documented human infectious diseases, a staggering 58% of pathogens have been shown to be exacerbated by climate change, that is, altered in their original form. So, humans are more dangerous! 58% of the pathogens were "mutated".
Lyme disease, dengue fever and malaria, for example, will get worse with climate change.
Many people know that dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease. In addition, under the background of global warming, the growth and spread of mosquitoes become more and more serious, so it leads to more dengue fever.
In June 2022, Singapore published a study stating that the country was facing an outbreak "emergency" due to the early and much larger dengue outbreak in 2022, with more than 13,000 cases recorded as of June 2022, far exceeding the 5,258 cases reported for the whole of last year.
There is growing evidence that climate change is threatening our life. From the perspective of influence, it is mainly divided into four aspects.
1. The impact of animals on humans. If animals carry some germs, viruses and so on, when they come into contact with people, they may be transmitted to people, thus causing a threat to human beings.
2. Climate-driven impacts, in which people exposed to these contaminated water sources after each extreme rainfall, flood, can become infected.
3. Climate hazards also contribute to the spread of pathogens, such as disease-carrying mosquito populations that can grow in warm temperatures and then bite people and spread the virus to them, as was the case with dengue fever.
4. Under the aggravation of climate change, human body immunity may be weakened. For example, high temperature causes death of human beings because human beings cannot resist it, and under such circumstances, bacteria and viruses may spread more widely, because they are easier to host in human bodies.
Therefore, the threat of climate problems to life cannot be underestimated. However, in addition to these known viruses and bacteria, there are more terrible problems.
Global Warming: Ancient Germs May Wake Up
The glacial regions on the earth are also the most threatened by global warming, but they are also the areas that humans fear the most.
Ancient bacteria, viruses and so on trapped in glaciers could be released after massive glacial and permafrost thaws.
This is not scaremongering, but a finding of relevance. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), French scientists discovered a rare giant virus with a length of 1.5 microns "30 meters below the surface" of an ice sheet in Siberia.
By the time it was found, it had been trapped in the Siberian permafrost for 30,000 years. Surprisingly, after it was removed, it appeared to "come back to life" and had the ability to infect.
However, there are many more unknown viruses and bacteria trapped in glaciers and permafrost.
Whether it's viruses, bacteria and so on that we know about, or ancient viruses, bacteria and so on that might be released as global warming increases, the root cause of the problem still needs to be addressed in the climate so that the impact can be mitigated.
Furthermore, under such situation, clean air without bacteria and viruses is especially important. It is suggest to use an air purifier (if you have) at home to purify the air all the time.