- NEW DELHI — Amid
the surging number of cancer cases in women, a new study on Tuesday found its
association with increasing global warming conditions.
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- In the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Public
Health, scientists found that global warming in the Middle East and North
Africa is making breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer more common and
more deadly.
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- While the rise in rates is small it is statistically
significant and suggests a notable increase in cancer risk and fatalities over
time.
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- “As temperatures rise, cancer mortality among women also
rises -- particularly for ovarian and breast cancers,” said Dr Wafa Abuelkheir
Mataria of the American University in Cairo.
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- “Although the increases per degree of temperature rise are
modest, their cumulative public health impact is substantial,” Mataria added.
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- The study focussed on countries like Algeria, Bahrain,
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudia
Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Palestine -- all seriously
vulnerable to climate change and are already seeing striking temperature rises.
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- The team collected data on the prevalence and mortality of
cancers -- breast, ovaries, cervix, and uterine -- and compared with changing
temperatures between 1998 and 2019.
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- The prevalence of the different cancers rose by 173 to 280
cases per 100,000 people for every additional degree Celsius: ovarian cancer
cases rose the most and breast cancer cases the least.
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- Mortality rose by 171 to 332 deaths per 100,000 people for
each degree of temperature rise, with the greatest rise in ovarian cancer and
the smallest in cervical cancer.
