Climate change and your health
The debate is over; nearly all scientists (and politicians) agree that climate change is real, is here, and is the result of human activity. Experts also agree that the consequences of global warming are serious and far reaching. All too often, though, these consequences are framed in terms of the threat to polar bears, exotic wildlife, and beautiful glaciers. Without minimizing the value of stately bears and snow-covered peaks, many people find it hard to make lifestyle changes and economic sacrifices to protect such distant assets. But climate change threatens more than the earth's vistas. It also threatens human health — and it's already causing problems here in the United States.
Our planetary greenhouse
Sunshine warms the earth. When solar radiation enters the atmosphere, a portion is bounced back into space, and another portion is absorbed by clouds and water vapor, but the majority strikes the planet's surface. This solar energy warms the earth, but it's also reflected back into the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. Some of the infrared penetrates through the atmosphere into space, but some bounces off atmospheric gases and heads back to earth, where it adds warmth (see figure).
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