14 DAY TRIAL // Several European countries should expect to see a relatively sharp increase in the number of global warming-related deaths over the next six decades or so, researchers behind a new study said today.
During a presentation made on September 27 at the European Respiratory Society's (ERS) annual congress, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, investigators said that excessive amounts of ozone are likely to be the main culprit behind this phenomenon.
The researchers then went on to list Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium as the most at-risk European countries. Throughout these territories, ozone-related deaths are expect to reach a new all-time high, although the figures may not be particularly impressive in themselves.
At this point in time, there is no doubt that global warming and climate change will force a shift in the realities of public healthcare over the coming decades, as more and more atmospheric systems are thrown off-balance, with potentially deadly consequences.
The new study was carried out as part of the Climate-TRAP project, whose main goal is to establish the best possible ways authorities can go about mitigating these effects. The endeavor is led by professor Bertil Forsberg, who is based at the Umea University, in Sweden.
Official statistics supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that as many as 140,000 people died needlessly between the 1970s and 2004, as a result of progressing global warming, and the growing effects of the climate change it produces.
These two phenomena worked together to alter crop production, destroy drinking water reserves, contaminate clean air, and propagate the spread of deadly infectious diseases, among a long list of other effects, medicalXpress reports.
“Ozone is a highly oxidative pollutant, linked with hospitalizations and deaths due to problems with the respiratory system,” says Umea University air pollution expert Dr. Hans Orru, who is also based at the University of Tartu, in Estonia.
“Ground-level ozone formation is due to rise as temperatures increase with climate change. The results of our study have shown the potential effects that climate change can have on ozone levels and how this change will impact upon the health of Europeans,” he goes on to say.
“Outdoor air pollution is the biggest environmental threat in Europe. If we do not act to reduce levels of ozone and other pollutants, we will see increased hospital admissions, extra medication and millions of lost working days,” concludes ERS president, professor Marc Decramer.