Climate Change affects everyone, but Dr. Sadath Sayeed made me realize how detrimental its effects are on certain communities. Beginning with some facts about climate change, it was news to me when he mentioned that 7 of the top 10 most polluting (by Ozone) cities in America were in California with Los Angeles as the largest emitter.
While I had a rough knowledge of the connections between health issues and climate change, I found Dr. Sayeed’s lecture fascinating and very informative, particularly when he discussed how climate change has drastically increased rates of infections.
Learning about the rise of Dengue, a Mosquito-carried infection, made me truly realize the drastic effects of global temperature rise. This increase in dengue cases in California, resulting from higher temperatures, heavier rains, and more expansive flooding, was jarring. It made me further realize the urgency of doing my part in protecting the planet.
Not only are mosquito habitats changing causing more cases of Dengue, but bacteria are also adapting to the warmer climates. The re-emergence of these devastating diseases is especially present in natural-disaster-stricken areas like Malawi.
In the latter portion of the presentation and the Q&A, Dr. Sayeed discussed inequalities within Global Health. Dr. Sayeed mentioned how countries that are the least likely to be affected by Climate Change and climate change-induced infections (the U.S. especially) are the largest greenhouse gas emitters; however, the inhabitants of countries predominantly in the global south that don’t have large emissions are the most affected by climate change and most susceptible to diseases and infections. Furthermore, the countries with inhabitants that are the most vulnerable to these climate change-induced infections have a lot less access to adequate healthcare. Something Dr. Sayeed said that really highlighted this disparity was when he mentioned in Westwood "babies are dying for millions" whereas in many other parts of the world "babies are dying for pennies."
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