Canadian study indicates climate change may cause blindness | Climate

Climate change may accelerate the onset of vision problems — Photo: Maksim Goncharenok/Pexels

Canadian scientists compared the incidence of vision problems in 1.7 million people in 50 US states. They found that those who lived in warmer regions were almost 50% more likely to suffer from serious vision problems than those who lived in colder places, reports the daily mail.

According to the researchers, exposure to more powerful ultraviolet rays causes damage to the cornea, the lens and the retina, in addition to increasing the risk of irritation and infection.

For specialists, the results illuminate a warning about global warming, with an annual increase of 1.1 degrees Celsius each year. One of the study’s authors, gerontologist Esme Fuller-Thomson, said: “It will be important to see if the number of older people with eye problems increases in the future. If that happens, we will have a disturbing scenario.

In the study, people living in warmer climates were 44% more likely to have problems such as cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis and inflammation due to irritation or infection.

The scientists added that the study was observational and therefore it is not possible to guarantee that the cause of the eye problems is even high temperatures. For this, further studies should be conducted in the future.

Megan Schneider

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