THEThe dry, arid climate favors the onset and worsening of asthma, starting with children. This correlation has become so evident that numerous studies have been carried out on the subject. Just in recent days the results of one have been published innovative research of the National Research Council (Cnr) carried out collaboratively with seven Italian universities. The result is decidedly disturbing: there is a clear synchrony between the cyclical rhythm of aridity and the cyclical rhythm of the increase in asthma cases in Italy. Here’s what the study published in the journal says Scientific Reportsand what behaviors we can adopt to better protect everyone’s health.
Asthma and climate change, the study in Italy
As reported by National Research Council (Cnr)“the climate is changing rapidly on a global scale: average temperatures increase and extreme weather phenomena, such as heat wavesthe Drought and thearidity.
A team from the National Research Council, which brings together researchers from theInstitute of environmental geology and geoengineering (Cnr-Igag), Institute of Translational Pharmacology (Cnr-Ift) And Institute of Clinical Physiology (Cnr-Ifc)in collaboration with pulmonologists, biostatisticians and epidemiologists from various Italian universities (Verona, Ancona, Ferrara, Palermo, Pavia, Turin and Sassari).
Asthma and climate: there is a correlation (and how)
The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, was conducted by Professor Sergio Bonomo, geologist of the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the Cnr (Cnr-Igag). To verify the existence of a link between drought, climate change and the incidence of asthma, the research group analyzed the periodic oscillations between 1957 and 2006.
«As far as Italy is concerned, the drought variations reconstructed through thePalmer index (sc-PDSI) – which measures the degree of severity thereof – were related to the fluctuations of a climate index, the Summer North Atlantic Oscillation (S-NAO). This, in its negative phase, generates humid conditions over northwestern Europe and arid conditions over the central Mediterranean. It turned out that in our country the incidence of asthma shares the same pattern of fluctuations, with an average periodicity of 6 years”, explains Bonomo on the Cnr website.
The WHO alarm
Also according to theWorld Health Organization (WHO) the health effects caused by climate change, in particular those due to the progressive warming of the planet, will be among the most significant health problems to be faced in the coming decades. The effects of climate change on respiratory and allergic diseases are numerousis known correlation between asthma and climatic factors such as meteorological variables, allergens and air pollutants.
The natural causes of climate change…
The causes of climate change are linked to factors of different nature. «Some are due to astronomical phenomena such as changes in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun and of theinclination of the earth’s axis. Others are consequent to variations in solar radiation emissions and at oscillations of oceanic and atmospheric circulation”, continues Professor Bonomo.
…and those related to human activities
“Starting since the industrial revolutionto these factors human activity has been added which, especially with theincrease in the concentration of greenhouse gasesis leading to an increase in temperatures and theintensification of extreme events such as periods of drought and aridity. In 2019 we started studying the cyclical fluctuations in aridity relating them to asthma mortality rates in the USA. Hence the idea of extending what was observed, also studying the data on the incidence of asthma in our country”, explains Bonomo.
Asthma: why drought worsens air quality
But why, among the many elements of the climate, was it chosen to compare drought with a respiratory disease? “Why prolonged periods of aridity cause an increase in atmospheric particulate matterthe famous Pm10 and Pm 2.5, therefore worsens the quality of the air we breathe”, replies Professor Bonomo to the Veronesi Foundation. The experts at asthmadisease that is experienced by 330 million people in the worlddeclare that now thepollution contributes to the global increase in the disease more than genetic predisposition.
Strategies to limit climate damage to health
«This innovative study aims to pave the way foridentification of prevention and mitigation strategies for health damageconfirming the importance and need to act against climate change”, concludes Bonomo.
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