Experts weigh in on how climate change can impact your health - UpNorthLive.com

Experts weigh in on how climate change can impact your health

One person died and 22 people suffered gunshot wounds in a shooting at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs parade. Three people are detained.

MICHIGAN, (WPBN/WGTU) -- Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st Century, according to the World Health Organization.

Whether you believe last summer's wildfires in Canada were caused by climate change or not, it left an impact on people's health from Quebec to northern Michigan.

UpNorthLive News spoke with experts to find out how your health could be impacted by rising temperatures and extreme weather events, and what you can do to protect yourself.

Over the past two years, Michiganders have dealt with poor air quality due to wildfire smoke, as well as extreme flooding, record-high temperatures and a deadly tornado.

Climate scientists attribute the increase in extreme weather to global climate change.

And those weather events are leaving a mark on the health and well-being of people across northern Michigan.

"Climate change is impacting people's health in a lot of different ways," said Dr. Joe Santangelo.

With nearly nonstop major fires in Canada, last June and July became the summer of smoke.

"We did see an increase in people who needed to come see us, because the wildfire smoke was causing problems with their breathing," Dr. Santangelo said.

Dr. Santangelo is the chief medical quality and safety officer for Munson Healthcare.

"People in northern Michigan should pay attention to their physical and mental health, as it comes to climate change," Dr. Santangelo said.

He said severe weather events caused by climate change can have a direct impact on our health.

"So, we're seeing this spread of some diseases that only occur in certain climates. And as climate is changing, those diseases are spreading to new areas," Dr. Santangelo said.

And Dr. Santangelo isn't alone.

"We're going to have more respiratory diseases, more cardiac diseases," said Michelle Li.

Li is the founder of Clever Carbon, a company that teaches people about their carbon footprint.

"And with the extreme weather patterns that are happening today, we're only going to see this more," Li said.

She said it's not just the physical health impacts that area a cause for alarm.

"The mental health impact of this is, a lot of anxiety, a lot of impending doom, because you have no control over it," Li said.

"If you're a parent to a child, you're worried about their future. There's so much anxiety and maybe even depression, because you don't know what the future of your child is going to be like. You don't know if they're going to have access to resources or clean air and you don't know how well their livelihood is going to be and its completely out of your control," Li said.

The effects of climate change can have the potential to make us feel a little helpless.

"There's a lot of unknown, which does play into that concern," Dr. Santangelo said.

So, what can people do to try to prevent any health impacts from climate change?

"I think one of the best things to do is to learn about climate change and to take action," Li said.

Li said you can also make adjustments to your lifestyle to feel like you have more control.

"Taking action can be very simple, as something like recycling or composing," Li said. "It could be as simple as learning about your carbon footprint, trying to reduce your home energy usage, not being as wasteful."

Dr. Santangelo said to stay informed about weather forecasts and advisories.

"Stay in touch with your health care professional about your conditions and making sure you have the supplies that you need to take care of your health conditions, if any unusual circumstances should arise," Dr. Santangelo said.

And Dr. Santangelo said the best thing you can do for your health is be prepared.

"So, it's not something that I want people to wake up in the middle of the night worrying about. But it is something I want people paying attention to so that we can make sure that we're anticipating any potential changes and doing what we can to mitigate them," Dr. Santangelo said.