Climate change and public health
When we hear about climate change, we usually think about things like global warming and extreme weather—not public health. But climate change and public health are deeply intertwined, and will become even more so as climate change progresses.
“We at the APHA recognized several years ago that climate change is a public health issue, and nobody was addressing it at the national level,” says Georges C. Benjamin, MD, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association (APHA). “The more we looked into it, the more we realized that the potential public health complications of climate change are profound.”
APHA has set three main priorities when it comes to climate change and public health: raising awareness among public health officials and policymakers; educating the public on how to respond to climate change as well as how to adopt “greener” lifestyles; and advocating for greater public health resource allocation towards climate-change related issues.
Dr. Benjamin explains that there are three main public health issues that are directly associated with climate change: the rise of asthma; increased rates of certain infectious diseases; and extreme weather and related natural disasters. “In the case of asthma, we know that as carbon dioxide levels increase, asthma levels increase,” he says. “With higher CO2 levels, things get warmer, and consequently we have an increase in the growth of allergy-inducing plants and certain pollutant gases, which in turn can trigger asthma.”
Dr. Benjamin urges the public not to underestimate the potential dangers of asthma. “Asthma, along with dental disease, is the biggest contributor to school absenteeism,” he says. “When kids aren’t in school, they don’t learn. And kids and adults alike can and do die from asthma complications. It’s a big problem.”
The second main climate-change related public health issue is infectious disease. “We know that malaria rates are increasing,” says Dr. Benjamin. “As the earth gets warmer, incidence of certain tropical diseases creeps up into new regions, and becomes more virulent in the tropics. Tropical diseases like malaria and dengue fever will become more common as the planet warms because the organisms that cause them thrive in warm, moist environments,” he explains.
Malaria and dengue fever are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide every year, as well as complications such as permanent blindness and paralysis in survivors. Making matters worse, the parasites that cause these diseases are becoming resistant to established treatments, which only elevates the importance of preventive measures such as public awareness campaigns, use of mosquito netting, and government-funded mosquito abatement programs.
The third and potentially most damaging public health consequence of climate change is the climate itself, and the extreme weather phenomena that arise from global warming. “As global temperatures rise, we’re seeing more big heat waves,” Dr. Benjamin says. “Heat waves aren’t necessarily new, but the ones we’re having now are lasting much longer, and are also occurring in regions that haven’t had them previously. And the hot climates are just getting that much hotter. Plus there’s the extreme weather [hurricanes, etc.] that arises from the warmer climate.”
Extended heat waves can take a heavy toll on the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, especially those who live in poor urban neighborhoods or subsidized housing. “It’s important that public health officials have systems in place to identify who is at risk in their communities and then get those people into cooling centers,” says Dr. Benjamin. “Another issue that arises in heat waves are Code Red ozone days, which can trigger breathing problems in people with respiratory issues. Plus, when it’s very hot, some chronically ill people won’t venture out to have their medication prescriptions refilled, which can cause additional complications.” Other extreme weather phenomena such as hurricanes and tropical storms can lead to public health consequences like cholera and dehydration in their aftermath.
Since extended heat waves and extreme weather are affecting widening swaths of the nation, it’s important for public health officials to redesign their response strategies accordingly, and also to seek out additional resources from policymakers around these issues. “These issues will continue to worsen until we address climate change itself,” says Dr. Benjamin. “Complicating matters is the fact we’re getting a fair amount of pushback on climate change-related policy from legislators and government officials who have political or ideological beliefs that oppose reform.”
Although government policymakers and resource allocators may be slow to respond to these issues, Dr. Benjamin says that members of the general public can still make a big difference. “Walk or bike when you can, instead of driving,” he says. “Take public transportation. If you need to buy a new car, buy a hybrid. Use energy-efficient appliances in your home, and switch to the newer long-life lightbulbs. Turn off lights when you’re not in the room. Lots of little things can add up to lower energy consumption, and lower CO2 emissions.”
Another way members of the public can help alleviate climate change is to educate themselves about it, as well as putting pressure on their elected officials to do the same. “Learn to separate the facts from the scare tactics,” Dr. Benjamin says. “We have to redouble our efforts if we’re going to make a difference. We have a tremendous opportunity to avert a lot of the damage from climate change right now, and we don’t want to miss that opportunity.”
