Drinking Water

Global infections from water poised to rise with climate change

As climate change handshakes water contamination, we pass by very much uncertain times.

Author : Sunderrajan Krishnan

Climate change triggered heat waves threaten water availability



Ninjallama rues as she remembers, " It was a terrible summer. The heat wave was killing. Three people died in my village. People with skeletal fluorosis suffered .. "

Heat waves in summer are becoming commonplace in India for the past five years. Record high temperature of 48 degree celsius  was recorded in Telangana in 2019. More than 100 deaths were reported from the heatwave last year in Telengana alone. This adds to the pressure of water and there becomes no option but to drink contaminated water in such situations.

<p>Globally safe and fresh water has already been threatened by pollution with economic growth expected  to be halved by water contamination alone, according to a <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/32245" target="_blank">recent World Bank report</a>. Climate change just adds to the problem.</p>
Phytoplankton bloom (Image Source: Envisat satellite, European Space Agency Via Wikimedia Commons)

And dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is making freshwater more scarce. A study by Australia based Connected Water Initiative Resource Centre says that DOC increase upto 54 percent is happening because of increased temperatures. This makes water less potable and harmful for human beings.

High temperatures and unsafe water increase health risks

Some 90 years back, a British surgeon general  Dr Robert McCarrison started out with some work which is still relevant. He mapped out the tough terrain of South Asia and made a first kidney stone map of the region. His findings still hold true. A kidney belt stretches from Western India to Pakistan, clearly marking out a stone belt. Globally, similar trends remain of high temperature and kidney stone correlation.

<p>Studies indicate that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4181925/" target="_blank">temperature increase affects chances of kidney stone worsening</a>. Further, poor water availability, contamination and poor water hydration of the kidneys causes worsening of the kidney stone problem. This is just one dimension linking climate change, human health and water contamination.</p>
Permafrost melting is throwing up surprises with new pathogens emerging (Image Source: Raziakber through Wikimedia Commons)

About the author: Dr Sunderrajan Krishnan is the Executive Director of INREM Foundation, a research organisation that works on public health, water and environmental issues.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of India Water Portal.

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