Stop the environment wreaking havoc on your health.
Political rhetoric aside, science has proved that climate change will affect your body – not just 50 years from now, but today. Here’s how to protect yourself.

AGGRESSIVE ALLERGIES
Thanks to the increased levels CO2 in the air, you’re breathing in more than twice the pollen today that your ancestors were 100 years ago, according to a study in the Australian Journal of Plant Physiology. The effect of fossil fuels doesn’t stop there. When burned, they release particles that attach to pollen and drive it deeper into your lungs, making it more difficult to expel when you exhale.
YOUR DEFENCE
Snacking on at least two apples a week can cut your risk of asthma by 32 per cent, report British researchers. The fruit is packed with histamine-blocking compounds, which help you breathe unobstructed.



STROKE
Japanese researchers recently found that high air-pollution levels more than double the chance you’ll die of a blood blockage in your brain. Particulates (soot from car exhaust and coal burning) and ground-level ozone strain your lungs and blood vessels, increasing your risk of a stroke, says Dr Paul Epstein, Associate Director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School.
YOUR DEFENCE
Beans. They’re good for your lungs and rich in folate. A study published in the journal Stroke says taking 300 micrograms of folate daily can reduce your risk of a stroke by 20 per cent.



ROSS RIVER FEVER
In a 2004 report on climate change and human health, the Australian Medical Association predicted that transmission of mosquito-borne diseases such as epidemic polyarthritis, caused by infection with either Ross River virus or Barmah Forest virus would become more widespread as tropical regions in the country move south, bringing the diseases with them. Other mosquito-borne diseases that could increase as the temperature rises are malaria, dengue fever, Australian encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis.
YOUR DEFENCE
Avoid known mosquito-infested areas, especially at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active. Make sure insect screens in the home don't have holes in them and be extra careful when on holidays or camping. Outdoors, use insect repellent and cover up with loose long-sleeved shirts and trousers – mosquitoes can bite through fabrics including denim jeans.



TOXIC RASHES
Higher carbon-dioxide levels are fuelling the growth of Toxicodendron plants (poison ivy, rhus tree) and making them even itchier. Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts found that poison ivy grew 105 per cent bigger when exposed to current CO2 levels than it did at 1950 levels. The plant also produced three times the urushiol, the compound that causes the relentless itching.
YOUR DEFENCE
If you stumble on a patch of poison ivy or rhus, you have about 10 minutes before your skin absorbs the urushiol. Wash your skin with grease-cutting dishwater detergent. Then hit the chemist for Benadryl or Tagamet (an antacid), each of which targets different histamine receptors to stave off itching.