If you have black or brown skin, you have more melanin, or natural pigment, than people with white skin. Extra melanin provides protection from sun-related damage but What Will Happen after a 3 or 4 Celsius Rise in Global Temperature?
“Having darkly pigmented skin, skin that’s rich in melanin, offers some natural protection against skin cancer, but it doesn't make you immune to all skin cancers the palms of your hands and soles of your feet or those who have lighter pigmentation have vulnerability just not as much as those who identify themselves as White. When skin cancers occur in individuals with richly pigmented skin, they tend to have some differences in appearance, location and prognosis [compared with skin cancers in people with less pigmented skin].
By knowing the signs of skin cancer and practicing sun safety, even people with very fair skin can build on your skin’s pigmented protection for increased protection in the rapidly changing climate. For melanated people delaying diagnosis is the biggest risks they have for skin cancer so good skin care practices including annual checkups and asking questions of your physician if any unusual symptoms or dark spots occur should be part of your annual health regimen. Be mindful and avoid the factors which can delay diagnosis, this will lead primary care providers and specialists, such as dermatologic oncologists, to identify skin cancer in early stages in people of color.
In 2014, Alexander Roulin conducted a study published in Global Change Biology that emphasized the important functions of melanin-based coloration in animals, such as camouflage, thermoregulation, UV radiation protection, and defense against pathogens. The study also highlighted that genes associated with melanin production can impact both behavior and physiology. The research examined available evidence indicating that individuals with different colorations may have varied responses to climate change. The study suggested that the effects of climate change on animals with dark or pale color variations will depend on how melanism influences survival, as well as how coloration is linked to behavior and physiology. For instance, with rising temperatures and heightened UV radiation due to climate change, dark-colored animals, which provide superior UV protection, may be less vulnerable to global warming compared to lighter-colored individuals, particularly in environments where pale individuals are more common.
According to US News, "more people are being diagnosed with skin cancer each year than the sum of all other types of cancer. Predictions estimated in 2024 reveal 2 in 5 Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer by age 65." In a period of 20 years (1994-2014), skin cancer diagnoses increased by a staggering 77%.
According to a recent study conducted by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) and published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe journal, the incidence rates of skin cancer (cutaneous malignant melanoma) in England have surged by over 550% in males and 250% in females since the early 1980s. The study examined data from more than 265,000 individuals diagnosed with skin cancer in England between 1981 and 2018, spanning a 38-year period.
Climate change is broadly affecting human health, with grave concern that continued warming of the earth’s atmosphere will result is serious harm. Since the mid-20th century, skin cancer incidence rates have risen at an alarming rate worldwide. Excessive exposure to UV radiation from the sun (or sunlight) is the main environmental risk factor for developing skin cancer. It is estimated that about 86% of all skin cancers are attributable to excessive exposure to sunlight. Professor Anjum Memon, Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at BSMS and lead author of the study, said: “Our study shows that overall, there has been a steady and significant increase in rates of skin cancer during the last four decades... continually increasing rates are most noted in middle (age 35-64 years) and old (65+ years) Caucasians.
This is corroborated by a review of literature from the National Institutes of Health databases (PubMed and Medline), the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results and International Agency for Research on Cancer registries, as well as published reports from federal and international agencies and consortia such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Climate and Clean Air Coalition, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United Nations Environment Program, World Health Organization, and World Meteorological Organization.
As we face growing evidence of the adverse impacts of climate change on human and environmental health, it is paramount to consider how climate specifically affects the rates of incidence of cutaneous malignancy on European populations globally, one of the most common and potentially serious dermatologic diagnoses. A review "The influence of climate change on skin cancer incidence – A review of the evidence" by Eva Rawlings Parker, MD examines the specific relationship and causality of increasing global skin cancer rates with increased ultraviolet radiation (UVR) resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion (SOD), the carcinogenic and behavioral effects of heat due to global warming, and air pollution (AP) from fossil-fuel combustion.
Secondary but just as profound is the "Effects of Climate and Environmental Changes on Women's Reproductive Health" by Guillermina Girardi Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Heatwaves and rising mean temperatures present major health problems, especially for populations with limited physiological ability or socioeconomic means to respond or adapt to them. Importantly, the effects of climate change are ubiquitous (everywhere), ranging from their effects on internal biology to their effects on a society's external systems including age of sexual maturation, fertility, pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, lactation, and menopause are subject to short- and long-term negative effects from Climate /global warming.
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