Abstract
Global warming is a serious threat to human existence. The relatively higher level of global warming in recent times poses higher health risks to humans, both directly and indirectly. The aim of the study was to investigate public knowledge of global warming and its effects on human health. A nationally representative survey of Ghanaian adults (N = 1130) was conducted from November 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Results show that 84.4% of the respondents understood the meaning of global warming. Respondents' perceived causes of global warming include natural processes, deforestation, act of the gods, burning of fossil fuel, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from vehicles and industries. The majority of the respondents (83.4%) indicated that global warming has an impact on human health, while 8.5% indicated that it does not. Majority (78.6%) of the respondents are willing to support efforts to reduce the intensity of global warming. Television (19.1%) and social media (18.6%) were the leading preferred methods for receipt of global warming information. These findings provide useful insights for policy directions. The Government of Ghana and other stakeholders in health should develop a communication strategy to increase and sustain publicity and education of the citizenry on global warming.
Highlights
Global warming is undoubtedly a major problem with worldwide attention and focus
The objective of the present study is to investigate public knowledge of global warming and its effects on human health
Majority of the respondents (83.4%) indicated that global warming has an impact on human health while 8.5% indicated that global warming does not have an impact on human health
Summary
Global warming is undoubtedly a major problem with worldwide attention and focus. Its occurrence is as a result of the elevation in average global temperatures facilitated by the greenhouse effect [1,2,3]. Unlike years before the 20th century where global warming was significantly under control, managing this phenomenon has become an extremely difficult task to carry out in this 21st century as a result of the rise in human-orchestrated industrial and power house emissions [5,6,7]. The relatively higher level of global warming in recent times poses higher health risks to humans, both directly and indirectly [8]. Global warming is associated with respiratory diseases such as asthma [13, 14]. It can result in drought, crop failure, and an increase in vector and water—borne diseases which indirectly affect the health of humans ([3, 6])—increasing chances of high mortality among humans
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