While the geologists, conservationists and environmentalists are concerned with the gruesome devastations of global warming, doctors too seem to be worried for the same reason. Yes, doctors, as the soaring temperatures, they find, may increase cardiovascular diseases. So, besides melting glaciers, wiping out insects and corals from the planet and endangering the polar animals, it is also endangering humans with diseases. Warning on the global warming-effects, Dr. Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, of the department of cardiology at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutesaid, If it really is a few degrees warmer in the next 50 years, we could definitely have more cardiovascular disease. It is well established that people, especially elderly, fall vulnerable to extreme summer heat with heart disease. Experts say that during the 2003 European heat wave, an estimated 35,000 died only in the first two weeks of August. With the temperatures soared, nearly 15,000 extra people died in France alone – much of them from heart problems. During high temperatures, the heart’s arteries harden much more quickly leading to atherosclerosis. Though, exactly how many more people will have heart problems in the future can not be estimated as lots more need to be studied about the link between global warming and heart disease, it is feared that a rise of few degrees in the next 50 years could definitely give birth to more cardiovascular diseases and cases. Image