There was a time when environmental concerns were a problem of the future. Climate change is happening, it’s all around us, and it affects all of us, as well as future children. The future is now.

In 2015 alone, there were hurricanes, cyclones, floods and wildfires that burned more than 8 million acres in the western United States. As droughts become dryer and more severe, as the south sees more severe storms, and as the northeast experiences warmer winters, the results of these climate changes are more than we are prepared to handle…

While climate changes impact our environmental in various ways, studies have shown that those changes can also impact human health, and in the most fundamental ways.

Read on to learn more about how the climate impacts our health.

Air – As the climate changes, the air quality is affected. In fact, the climate change and air pollution are closely related. This means that just like air pollution can impact human health, climate changes can do the same. According to the EPA, the “greenhouse effect” plays a huge role in this.

Read more about what the EPA has to say about air quality.

Water – It goes without saying how important our water supply is to everyday life. We rely on water for agriculture, energy production, manufacturing, and even for nourishment. We require a clean supply of water to drink in order to sustain health. But what happens when our water supply is affected?

As a result, the climate change is expected to increase water demand, which means decreasing water supplies, and even reducing water quality.

Food – There always seems to be some media scare about the latest outbreak of food poisoning in a restaurant, an outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, and even a recall on certain food products that we would normally find in our grocery stores.

Much like water, the climate change also affects our food supply. Because the climate has an impact on crops, livestock, fisheries and water, this ultimately affects our food supplies.

Shelter – In the United States, when a threatening hurricane, tornado or snowstorm hits us, many residents’ homes are damaged. But most homeowners in the United States have insurance to help recoup the losses of a damaged home.

However, in other areas of the world, many aren’t as fortunate. When damaging and severe storms threaten their coasts and main lands, many are left homeless. In fact, many environmentalists are beginning to notice a link between climate changes and human displacement and migration.

Visit this site here to read more about human displacement and migration, and the connection to climate changes.

Disease – Disease is a huge area of concern for us today, especially with climate changes. In fact, disease is one of the most common things that scare humans. Even scarier is there is a connection between climate changes and the outbreak of diseases.

This is because climate changes are affecting our ecosystem, resulting in climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus, Lyme disease, and even the Zika virus.

Listen to this podcast about the Zika virus here.

So if you don’t believe that climate changes are linked to some of the newest health concerns, or if you still don’t believe that global warming is a real thing, think again. The changes in our climate have already shown some very real and even devastating impacts on human health.

Furthermore, scientists and environmentalists expect that the climate change events that we’ve seen already are only the beginning.

Learn more about human health and other trending health topics and news at getthrive.com.