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Environmental Problems That Affect Homeostasis

Climate change affects human health just as much as it affects natural landscapes. A healthy human body is in a constant state of homeostasis, or balance. This is reliant on a negative feedback system that uses outside stimuli to record immune responses that keep the body in good health. When homeostasis is disrupted, the body is open to the invasion of disease. Some elements of climate change disrupt this balance.

  1. Extreme Weather

    • As climates warm all over the world, it creates change in the environment. These changes lead to more extreme weather during the summer and winter months. The intense heat of the summer months puts human populations at risk. Without air-conditioning and an adequate water supply, certain populations in the world, particularly third-world countries, run the risk of disease and death; the same goes for countries experiencing severe winter conditions without access to heat.

    Disease

    • Extreme heat creates good living conditions for microorganisms. Some of these microorganisms are infectious diseases that depend on weather conditions. Many of these diseases are transported by insects; malaria, for example, which is spread through mosquitoes, needs warm conditions for the bugs to thrive. Another outcome of warming temperatures is algal blooms. These blooms have the potential to carry cholera when they blossom in polluted waters.

    Air Quality

    • As climates warm, the frequency of smog increases at the ground level. Smog is a foglike atmospheric collection of pollutants. A person who is exposed to higher levels of smog and pollution is more at risk to develop heart and lung illnesses. Air pollution also has milder effects, such as asthma and allergies. As of 2011, studies are being conducted to determine the indirect effects of this pollution on human health.

    Water Supplies

    • Fresh water supplies are at risk as climates warm, especially in parts of the world that already have dry climates, such as desert regions. Fresh water is used for drinking and agriculture, and in its absence human populations suffer increased disease, starvation and dehydration. Before circumstances become extreme enough for disease, a community may be forced to relocate. This relocation has the potential to cause mental stress that could lead to other disruptions in homeostasis.

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