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Climate Change Causes Kidney Stones? One
of the strangest potential consequences of climate change is the fact
that it will give more people kidney stones. In fact, the warmer parts
of the U.S. already have higher rates of kidney stones than the colder
parts.
Researchers think this is because of the fact that in hotter climates, people generally urinate less because of low fluid intake or sweating. This allows salts to more easily crystallize in the kidneys. Specifically, a 5 to 7 degree temperature rise due to climate change could yield a 30% increase in kidney stone problems in places such as Texas and California. Thus, although there will likely be much more serious consequences, global warming may lead to more than a million new cases of kidney stones in the U.S. by 2050. Source: A Link Between Kidney Stones And Climate Change?, by Dina Fine Maron, The Boston Globe, 21 July 2008.
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