{"id":246694,"date":"2025-05-19T04:39:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T04:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/climate-change-is-threatening-eye-health-in-disturbing-ways\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T04:39:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T04:39:29","slug":"climate-change-is-threatening-eye-health-in-disturbing-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=246694","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change Is Threatening Eye Health in Disturbing Ways"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Cataracts, pinkeye and other ocular disorders are linked to heat, air pollution and higher UV exposure<\/h2>\n
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Sanket Jain, Knowable Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \"Eye
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New research is revealing how climate change is impacting our eyes.
\n Knowable Magazine<\/span>
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For five months in 2017, farmworker Alka Kamble experienced blurred vision in one of her eyes but didn\u2019t consult an ophthalmologist. \u201cI couldn\u2019t afford it, and neither did I have the time, as I had to work long hours to make ends meet,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Then Kamble saw a flyer for a free eye check-up clinic near her home in Jambhali village, in India\u2019s Maharashtra state. The doctor there suggested immediate cataract surgery and said that overexposure to solar radiation had likely contributed to her deteriorating eyesight.<\/p>\n

Kamble, now 55, had for decades worked long hours in the scorching heat without sunglasses or shade. Conditions have worsened as heat waves have intensified in India, she adds. \u201cThe heat has become so unbearable that farmers are finding it difficult even to work for two hours in the field during summers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Alka

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Working in scorching heat for years affected farmworker Alka Kamble\u2019s eyes, eventually leading to the formation of a cataract, for which she underwent surgery.<\/p>\n

Sanket Jain<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A number of well-known factors, including exposure to UV radiation, genetics and aging<\/a>, can lead to cataracts, a condition affecting roughly 94 million<\/a> people in which the lenses of the eyes get cloudy, causing blurry vision. But in recent years, researchers have found another causative factor for cataracts and other eye disorders: climate change.<\/p>\n

Climate change is increasing risk to eye health in multiple ways. First, it is making the planet hotter\u2014Earth\u2019s average surface temperature in 2024 was the warmest on record<\/a>. <\/strong>Body temperatures reaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit can cause heatstroke, a condition that disrupts biological processes throughout the body. In the eyes, heatstroke damages the natural defense systems that normally counteract the buildup of harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species, explains Luc\u00eda Echevarr\u00eda-Lucas, an ophthalmologist at the Hospital of La Axarqu\u00eda in Spain.<\/p>\n

The eye lens is made up of crystalline proteins that must remain organized to remain transparent. <\/strong>Reactive oxygen species can damage these proteins, \u201cforming opacities that lead to cataracts,\u201d Echevarr\u00eda-Lucas says.<\/p>\n

Since the lens can\u2019t regenerate the proteins, the more time one spends in the heat, the greater the risk of developing cataracts. In a study spanning ten years in southern Spain<\/a>, Echevarr\u00eda-Lucas and her colleagues found an additional 370.8 cases of cataracts per 100,000 inhabitants for each degree Celsius rise in the maximum average temperature each year. And though the typical age of onset of cataracts is 60 or older, cataracts in people aged 15 to 49 were more common in regions where a high percentage of people work in agriculture.<\/p>\n

Another way global warming is contributing to eye disorders is by increasing our exposure to UV radiation, according to Echevarr\u00eda-Lucas and and study co-author Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Senciales Gonz\u00e1lez, a geographer at the University of M\u00e1laga. Some of this is driven by behavior\u2014people tend to spend more time outdoors when it\u2019s warm. But in some places, such as Southern California and the Costa del Sol in Spain, hot, dry winds sap from the air water vapor that would normally absorb UV radiation, causing more UV exposure. UV radiation also generates reactive oxygen species that damage the eye lens and can directly damage the DNA of lens cells, Echevarr\u00eda-Lucas adds.<\/p>\n

Cataracts are one of the most common causes of vision impairment worldwide. But climate change is also causing an uptick in other eye conditions. These include keratitis, an inflammation of the cornea, the eye\u2019s clear, outermost layer; pterygium, an overgrowth of fleshy pink tissue over the white part of the eye (called the sclera); and <\/strong>conjunctivitis, an eye infection or irritation also called pinkeye, notes Yee Ling Wong, an ophthalmologist-in-training at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in the United Kingdom and co-author of a 2024 overview in the Journal of Climate Change and Health<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Risks

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Rising heat, pollution and airborne allergens\u2014fueled by climate change\u2014can contribute to a range of eye disorders, from infections and inflammation to cataracts.<\/p>\n

Reporting by E. Underwood \/ Knowable Magazine<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One 2023 study<\/a> of nearly 60,000 people in Urumqi, in northwestern <\/strong>China, found that temperatures exceeding 28.7\u00b0C\u2014just 83\u00b0F\u2014increased the risk of conjunctivitis by <\/strong>roughly 16 percent compared with daily temperatures around 10.7\u00b0C, or 51\u00b0F. Longer pollen seasons and increased mold growth<\/a>, both of which have been linked to climate change, are also contributing to an uptick in conjunctivitis caused by allergies, says ophthalmologist Malik Kahook at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Beyond these direct impacts, climate-driven droughts cause food insecurity that can lead to deficiencies in essential nutrients, such as copper and vitamins B12, B1 and B9 , that risk damaging the optic nerve. During droughts, people are often forced to use unsafe water<\/a>, which also increases the risk of eye infections.<\/p>\n

There are ways to protect the eyes from climate-driven damage. First and foremost, outdoor workers should be given sufficient shade and frequent breaks to cool down, says Jes\u00fas Rodrigo Comino, a geographer at the University of Granada and a co-author of the Spanish study. He also recommends wearing a hat with a visor that shields the eyes, <\/strong>as well as UV-filter sunglasses: Sunglasses offer nearly 38 percent <\/strong>more protection than not wearing them, Rodrigo Comino says.<\/p>\n

Contact lenses containing a hydrogel that allows more oxygen to reach the cornea can also help to stave off damage from UV, Rodrigo Comino says. These contact lenses are widely available and commonly prescribed by eye care professionals worldwide. Eating foods rich in vitamins A, C and E, and tryptophan, as well as avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol, can also help, he adds.<\/p>\n

Reducing greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals, which increase UV exposure, are key to protecting eye health at a global level. But even under the best climate scenarios, intense climate-driven heat, droughts and other eye irritants will continue to affect people like Kamble.<\/p>\n

Some programs are attempting to address the problem, including India\u2019s National Program for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment, which provides access to affordable cataract surgeries. That program covered the cost of Kamble\u2019s surgery. \u201cI never realized that the problem could get so severe by working in the fields,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Knowable\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Knowable Magazine<\/em> is an independent journalistic endeavor from Annual Reviews.<\/p>\n\n

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