Public Health Absent From Climate Change Debate
Posted by Kelly Smith on Thu, Apr 01, 2010
There is something missing as politicians debate climate change policy in the U.S. Liberals and conservatives are framing climate change solely as an environmental issue or an economic issue. While these certainly are very relevant to global warming, a commonly disregarded aspect is the effect of global warming on public health. It is not clear why, as online journalist Richard Graves put it, "President Obama and congressional leaders have made health-care reform and tackling global warming their top priorities this year, yet little to no analysis has been made on what a climate policy that shuts down carbon-spewing smokestacks and tailpipes would mean to the health-care sector." This connection between climate change and healthcare seems like an important area to probe.
According to Dr. Matthew Nisbet at Washington D.C.'s American University, several reputable scientific journals, such as the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet, have published articles discussing health issues tied to global warming. For whatever reason, this research has not really come to light through the political arena or the mainstream U.S. media.
Reducing carbon emissions and pollutants entering the atmosphere could certainly have a positive effect on respiratory diseases, an area of health that is otherwise predicted to grow worse as the climate grows warmer. A warming climate could also cause problems with farming, through droughts, floods, severe weather events, and changing climate patterns. This could negatively affect food supplies worldwide. Global warming could also cause heat-related illnesses and extend the range of insects that carry infectious diseases.
Fortunately, the U.S. Center for Disease Control is preparing to respond to these and other possible public health consequences of global warming, using methods similar to its preparations for flu outbreaks or other large-scale health crises in the U.S. In Europe, the E.U. has already foreseen the potential healthcare savings resulting from a reduction in carbon emissions.
Photo via sarawestermark