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Small changes to the climate can have wide-ranging effects on public health from asthma to heart problems to mosquito-borne diseases. While climate change discussions often focus on what will happen in the future, changes to the atmosphere have already been taking a toll on people today.“Health is the canary in the coal mine and we are the canaries,” Jeffrey Shaman, PhD, director of the climate and health program at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, told Healthline.

Last week, the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s climate change report made public by the New York Times concluded that “it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.”

The report also pointed to a host of factors likely to affect the United States, including changes to “water quality and availability, agricultural productivity, [and] human health.”

Shaman and other health experts have pointed to the ways in which extreme temperatures and other effects of climate change are impacting people today, from heat-related illnesses to cardiovascular events.

Effects of climate change now

Asthma

Spiking temperatures can affect air quality since it raises the levels of pollutants and ozone in the air……..

Heat-related illnesses

Dramatic heat waves and record-breaking temperatures have become more common in recent years. The authors of the climate change report found that 16 of the past 17 years were the hottest on record.

Higher temps mean more people at risk for potentially dangerous heat-related illnesses……

Allergies

One lesser-known consequence of climate change is seasonal allergies.

Increasing temperatures and rising levels of carbon dioxide in the air can have a significant effect on plants and pollen that cause common seasonal allergy symptoms.

Plants that cause hay fever in the spring, summer, and early fall will bloom and flourish for longer due to warming temperatures.

Shaman said in particular the ragweed plant, a mainstay of the fall allergy season, has been shown to produce more pollen when exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels……..

Cardiovascular disease

The warming climate can result in conditions that can put strain on the cardiovascular system. This puts people at risk for stroke, heart attack, or other major cardiac events.

Wildfires in particular can put people at risk. An increase in extreme hot and dry weather in recent decades can exacerbate natural cycles of forest fires.

“Wildfires have increased over parts of the western United States and Alaska in recent decades and are projected to continue to increases as a result of climate change,” the climate change report authors wrote.

These fires can increase rates of cardiac events for people, even if they are miles away.

Dr. Richard Josephson, a cardiologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, told Healthline in an earlier interview that the cardiovascular system can come under increased strain from particulates in smoke or haze from a forest fire.

“There are a variety of toxic chemicals in the smoke and small particulate air pollution in the smoke that are bad for the cardiovascular system,” Josephson said.

These tiny particulates put strain on the cardiovascular system, putting people at risk for major cardiac events. “It can cause activation of the clotting system and constriction of blood vessels,” Josephson said.

Effects of climate change in the future

Insect-borne disease There are other public health factors that scientists are closely watching to see if they will impact public health.

The WHO states that insect- and other animal-borne diseases could be affected by climate change if the insects and animals move to new habitats in reaction to changing weather patterns……http://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-climate-change-could-be-affecting-your-health#1