WEATHER | DISEASE | WATER | HUNGER | AIR POLLUTION | ALLERGIES
 For decades scientists have predicted that global warming will lead to a rise in the number of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and droughts. Such changes in weather patterns will have an enormous impact on human health and human life.
Rising temperatures and changes in precipitation contribute to the spread of infectious diseases like malaria and diarrheal illnesses. Heat waves have caused the deaths of tens of thousands in the last few years.
Four years ago, the World Health Organization estimated that global warming contributes to more than 160,000 deaths each year, and this figure is likely conservative given the intensity of recent storms and events.
Perhaps the most worrisome public health threat posed by global warming is the potential for losing our food supplies. A report commissioned by the Pentagon in 2003 calculated that extreme weather events could lead to major disruptions in food and water supplies and have profound effects upon the health and well-being of our society. The authors of the report concluded that the risks from global warming "should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a U.S. national security concern."
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