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Human health and the environment are linked together. This is why when a change occurs in our environment, the health effects are profound. Of the humans affected, elders are part of the most vulnerable population. This is because of their pre-existing health issues, their sensitivity to changes in climate and many other factors such as their inability to sense dehydration. Elders being affected by climate change will be a huge issue because the number of elderly people aged 80 years and older will almost quadruple between now and 2050. Providing accessible healthcare and assistance for elderly people will be necessary in order to decrease the health effects that climate change will bring.
Climate change will affect elderly health by affecting their cardiovascular and respiratory health mainly. As heat days are expected to increase, so will the amounts of asthma and cases of heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Likewise the number of cold days is expected to increase which will affect blood pressure which may cause cardiovascular issues such as strokes. Mental health can also be triggered by climate change as huge changes in climate can cause things such as anxiety and depression. Mental health issues are much more likely to present themselves if there is a pre-existing mental illness as well.
In order to decrease the health effects in elders, we must provide accessable healthcare. In order to do this we will need to increase the amounts of hospitals and retirement homes as well as the number of nurses and doctors. In order to have enough staff to deal with the elderly, we must encourage youth to go after jobs in the medical field. Another solution to this problem may be to install green roofs. Green roofs provide oxygen and also cool down buildings decreasing cost for air-conditioning and also providing a cool environment in an environmentaly friendly way.
