A fatal and almost inevitable combo: climate change and high temperatures have increased the rate of blindness and eye problems. To report the news is a group of Canadian researchers who have taken as a sample of analysis 1.7 million of people, not all Americans, in all 50 US states: Those living in warmer regions were found to have a more than 50% chance of developing vision problems.
FURTHER INFORMATION
I study
Exposure to the current ultraviolet light damages the cornea, lens and retina, leading to irritation and infection. Experts said the findings are “very worrying» from a global warming perspective, which has seen global average temperatures rise by two degrees Fahrenheit and 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s.
Heat, red alert for 72 hours in Rome and seven other cities: here’s how to defend yourself
“It will be important to monitor whether the prevalence of vision impairment among older adults will increase in the future,” said the co-author of the study from the University of Toronto gerontologist.
The study, published in the journal Ophthalmic Epidemiology, looked at people ages 65 and older between 2012 and 2017.
Country you go, «cataract you find»
Testers from Florida, Texas and Georgia, where temperatures hover around 35-40 degrees Celsius, experienced more vision problems than residents of New York and Maine, where temperatures are milder. Citizens living in the states of Virginia, Kentucky and California were also 24% more likely to have vision problems.
In the conclusion of the study, the scientists said: “We continue to update the study: if the trend were to be confirmed again, this would call into question many things, including the adoption of a different approach to climate change.”