Climate change is taking a toll on our health.
Public Health & Wellbeing
With every passing day, the impacts of climate change on our health and wellbeing become more apparent. These impacts add additional strain to the social and environmental determinants of health, amplify existing health conditions and intensify new global health problems that are just beginning to emerge.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 90% of people breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution, largely resulting from burning fossil fuels that are driving climate change. In 2018, air pollution from fossil fuels caused $2.9 trillion in health and economic costs — about $8 billion a day. In addition to the increase in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, climate change aggravates these areas and more:
- Injuries related to environmental changes, such as extreme weather events.
- Food and water safety and security.
- Changes to infectious diseases spread and transmission.
"While the world is focusing on long-term plans for climate response, we should not forget that climate change disproportionately affects the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable people in our society."
– Dr. Nino Kharaishvili
This last bullet is of particular interest to me because I’ve devoted a good part of my career supporting the U.S. Department of Defense in its worldwide effort of building public and veterinary health systems to detect and diagnose extremely dangerous pathogens and infectious diseases. With climate change impacting the spread of infectious diseases, the following examples are cause for concern and action:
- The Harvard University School of Public Health released a study conducted in California from Aug. 15 to Oct. 15, 2020, which found a direct correlation between increased air pollution from wildfires with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths. The numbers were staggering — 28 consecutive days of increased pollution caused an 11.7% increase in COVID-19 cases and an 8.4% increase in COVID-19 deaths.
- Climate change impacts pathogen transmission characteristics and could expose us to new infectious diseases. For example, Rift Valley Fever (RVF) was endemic in Kenya’s Rift Valley, with sporadic cases emerging from prolonged rainy seasons, which contributed to the growth of the mosquito population. Climate change weather patterns increased mosquito activities and subsequently, more human infection.
These examples are the proverbial tip of the iceberg in our rapidly changing world. The time is now to accelerate our actions and solutions for addressing health-related, climate-change impacts.
- At the governmental level, broaden assessment of climate change on various populations to develop projections for the disease burden. This will paint a detailed picture of what to expect.
- Design cross-sectoral intervention strategies between governments and agencies to improve health system resilience and address health equity issues exacerbated by global warming.
- Further develop partnerships between governments and the private sector to mobilize resources and knowledge, and support innovation.
- Bring health experts into the conversation. By working together, health teams, environmental scientists and built environment specialists can share best practices and devise actionable steps to mitigate this growing public health emergency.
While the world is focusing on long-term plans for climate response, we shouldn't forget that climate change disproportionately affects the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable people in our society. We need more aggressive actions toward mitigating the immediate effects of climate change. The steps we take together can make our tomorrows healthier, safer and more sustainable. ■