Climate Change and Adverse Public Health Impacts on Human Health and Water Resources ^†

Abstract

Public health is currently facing several difficulties. The global impact of climate change is intensifying. Consequently, several problems have developed regarding human health and water resources. Globally, natural water resources are frequently insufficient and cannot keep up with the rising demand of at least the previous 50 years. Research should choose targets perspicaciously in order to thoroughly detect and examine emerging water resources issues, which have developed owing to both human involvement and climate change. Water management is a matter of great contention. With water resources already universally in jeopardy, their control will have tremendous consequences for public health. In view of the fact that humanity is going through the post-pandemic era, or even the emergence of a new pandemic, it is vital that water resources along with climate change be assessed to determine the magnitude of the threat they pose to public health.

1. Introduction

Quality of life is strongly dependent on public and environmental health. The promotion of public health is essential for maintaining good public health standards, whilst the proper management of reserves and utilization of water sources can help to improve the quality of life of even the poorest people on Earth [1]. Changes in the environment and throughout the climate generally have contributed to the contamination of water. Additionally, unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic can cause deteriorations and create a difficult-to-reverse public health situation [2]. The use of conventional and unconventional water resources has the potential to help mitigate the situation when there are no renewable water sources or in areas with high levels of contaminated water [3]. Although the food trade has flourished at admirable levels, water transportation programs are still in their infancy, even though they are on the agenda of many developed nations worldwide (Figure 1) [4,5].

1.1. Critical Environmental and Public Health Concerns

There seem to be insufficient recorded facts regarding the impact of urban wastewater on public health. An unprecedented volume of wastewater is produced worldwide, and this even comes from infrastructural wastewater. Residents are in jeopardy worldwide owing to the lack or limited management of wastewater [5].

It is essential precautionary guidelines be redesigned from scratch. The agenda on the management of wastewater must be put into action immediately and every hazard regarding public and environmental health has to be recorded. However, it is difficult to check the inauguration of new epidemiology tools thoroughly without international a collective effort. Apparently, issues of public health are constantly arising. It is vital that environmental contamination be monitored. In this model, wastewater would be dealt with as a prerequisite and the powers that be would provide recognition of the key role of environmental wastewater [6].

It is necessary to create and provide public health service guidelines and policies with which to determine contamination. In fact, they consist of important factors that provide control measures and preventive measures, and also improve efficiency. Individuals and public health workers are exposed to various health risks from wastewater (Figure 2).

There are primary and secondary hazards that may negatively affect both public health and the environment. Climate plays a major role in affecting people’s health, although it may have either direct or indirect effects. The research reflects the impacts of climate change and associated and correlated impact factors on public health and vulnerability [7]. Underground and surface bodies of water provide a uniquely well-integrated context for research into social–ecological systems. Most human populations depend on revering ecosystem services, while the watershed is a natural geospatial unit for modeling environmental exposure and predicting epidemiological outcomes (Figure 2) [8].

Figure 2. Impacts of climate change [8].

Figure 2. Impacts of climate change [8].

1.2. Sustainable Development Issues

Accessible and clean water is vital for both life and sustainable development. Both biodiversity and human health are ominously threatened due to continuous urban pollutant emissions [9]. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for the existing pollutants to be purified and filtered separately without international guidelines. Secondary wastewater treatment is a prerequisite for adequate water quality [10,11].

It has been estimated that the population of non-developed countries will double and triple in the coming years; as a result, their needs for drinking water and nutrient and crop supply will double and triple accordingly. Thus, the risk of new diseases and infections related to water and the environment will be enormous and perhaps irreversible if no moves are made now [12]. Almost half a billion tons of plastic rubbish are disposed into water sources such as rivers and oceans. There is no global and collective mention of the deposition of plastic that is no longer used and as a result ends up at the bottom of the oceans unbroken and at the same time kills thousands of species of marine life and pollutes the aquifer. Toxic concentrations of plastic species or their small particles have been shown to kill thousands of living organisms and even wipe out entire species [13]. Aside from the above-mentioned issues, individuals today, and especially older ones, are continuously faced with extreme weather changes and, as heat waves are a common weather phenomenon, they have to be prepared [14]. Continuous change and climate change will cause many more severe heat waves [15,16].

2. Methodology

The methodology used consists of a review of the published literature in Greek and English. The narrative review includes published articles in Greek and international databases such as Medline, Scopus, and Pubmed through the following indexing words: public health; climate change; impact; environment; water resources; worldwide challenges; human factors; and global warming.

This study included articles regarding water resources as well as climate change. The exclusion criterion of the articles was the language other than English and Greek.

3. Results

The effect of climate change on water resources was carefully examined. Furthermore, both human factors and climate change were identified as contemporary challenges in terms of the mismanagement of water resources. A matter of great contention consists of the enormous impact on human health and water resources. As a result, both fields—public and environmental health—are usually mismanaged and many issues remain unsolved. Water management and climate change are two cases in point as they are not addressed at a global level; thus, there seems to be a great eminent hazard that threatens humanity.

4. Discussion

Nowadays, cities are densely populated and, as a result, sustainability of natural resources is in doubt and successfully expanding economies are thriving in metropolitan places [12,13]. It is obvious that the cycle of water resources and climate change in major population areas are highly disturbed [17].

The financial consequences regarding climate change are even more burdened and will increase further and further in most regions. Europe is already being affected by global warming and ever more climate fluctuations are being observed [13,18]. The majority of individuals are bound to occupy areas pretty close to bodies of water; as a consequence, high contamination levels are recorded along valuable water sources. Other than that, most urban centers are prone to extreme weather phenomena [19,20].

A plethora of toxic substances are constantly penetrating the air, the soil and into the underground of megaregions. They stay dormant there until the moment they can enter water resources. Consequently, water becomes more and more contaminated, affecting all the flora and fauna of a territory as well as public health [21,22,23,24,25,26,27].

The local or national authorities often mismanage the administration of public health audit services [28,29,30,31,32,33]. The need to educate and motivate public health professionals is vital for the provision of quality services, maintenance of job pleasure and the acceptance of this collective work by the entire local and international community. Employee burnout is frequently observed; consequently, it is affected and increased by political interventions [34,35,36,37].

5. Conclusions

Environmental and public health issues ought to be reconsidered in order to encourage more sustainable decisions to be made and more action to be taken. The scientific community has strong evidence and maintains that new epidemics, even pandemics, can occur from factors such as living with various animals, eating food of animal origin without following food safety standards, such as raw food, or eating food containing excessive toxic substances or poisons. It is crucial that the relationship between climate change and the environment be re-examined in order to encourage more sustainable behavioral choices and improve public health. This narrative study examines several approaches to managing water supplies and highlights the issues caused by a lack of infrastructure. It also concludes that a fresh framework for managing water resources needs to be established. In order to maximize the utilization of water resources, conserve more drinkable water, provide data and impact climate change policy, significant investments must be made.