This post did not turn out the way I thought it would. Better!
Read on...but beware: stream-of-consciousness alert!
On 23 January 2019 the WBUR-produced NPR show On Point had a great discussion on the public health emergency aspects of climate change. They are not en route; they are here and they will get worse. We WaterWonks tend to think in terms of floods, sea-level rise, droughts, mudslides, etc., but it is more than those..
The discussion was chilling, but I also found it enlightening and inspiring.
The show started with some introdcutory material and a commentary from the New England Journal of Medicine that introduced the major NEJM paper and also served as a 'call to action'.
Here is the commentary paper by Drs. Caren G. Solomon and Regina C. LaRocque, Climate Change - A Health Emergency
Download Nejmp1817067
Introduction
As the Camp wildfire spread rapidly in California in early November 2018, the University of California, Davis, Burn Center received a call that nearby Feather City Hospital was on fire and patients were being urgently transferred. That, recalls David Greenhalgh, professor and chief of the Burn Division, UC Davis Department of Surgery, was when the chaos began. Within the next 24 hours, with fires raging, 12 new burn patients were rushed to his facility (which usually admits 1 or 2 patients in a given day). The most severely injured man had burns over nearly half his body, with exposed bone and tendon; a month later, he and two other patients remained hospitalized, facing repeated surgeries. And these were the patients fortunate enough to have made it to the hospital. At least 85 people died and nearly 14,000 homes were lost in what is the largest California wildfire on record — a record that unfortunately is likely to be short-lived.
In this issue of the Journal, Haines and Ebi summarize the devastating effects that the global burning of fossil fuels is having on our planet (pages 263–273). Disruption of our climate system, once a theoretical concern, is now occurring in plain view — with a growing human toll brought by powerful storms, flooding, droughts, wildfires, and rising numbers of insectborne diseases. Psychological stress, political instability, forced migration, and conflict are other unsettling consequences. In addition, particulate air pollutants released by burning fossil fuels are shortening human life in many regions of the world. These effects of climate disruption are fundamentally health issues, and they pose existential risks to all of us. People who are sick or poor will suffer the most.
The last paragraph:
We, like others, are frightened by the unfolding climate crisis, with its implications for the health of our communities and the future of our children. Rather than being paralyzed by despair, we choose to focus our efforts on areas where our voices are most powerful — for instance, by working with medical students on climate action, supporting the undergraduate divestment movement, joining forces with like-minded health professionals, and speaking with our legislators. There are currently more than a million physicians in the United States, and our actions matter. When the next generation asks us, “What did you do about climate change?,” we want to have a good answer.
That last paragraph really struck me. More than 1M physicians in the USA, plus all the other health-care professionals? (over 13M according to one site). What a large cogent group that would make legislators take notice.
What if the climate scientists and WaterWonks joined the HCPs? Think about it.
Here is the main event:
The Imperative for Climate Action to Protect Health, by Andy Haines and Kristie Ebi, NEJM, N Engl J Med 2019; 380:263-273
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1807873 Note: click on the title to access a PDF of the article or download it here: Download NEJMra1807873
Introduction
Climate change is already adversely affecting human health and health systems, and projected climate change is expected to alter the geographic range and burden of a variety of climate-sensitive health outcomes and to affect the functioning of public health and health care systems. If no additional actions are taken, then over the coming decades, substantial increases in morbidity and mortality are expected in association with a range of health outcomes, including heat-related illnesses, illnesses caused by poor air quality, undernutrition from reduced food quality and security, and selected vectorborne diseases in some locations; at the same time, worker productivity is expected to decrease, particularly at low latitudes. Vulnerable populations and regions will be differentially affected, with expected increases in poverty and inequities as a consequence of climate change. Investments in and policies to promote proactive and effective adaptation and reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions (mitigation) would decrease the magnitude and pattern of health risks, particularly in the medium-to-long term.
Cutting to the chase...
Conclusions
Climate change is causing injuries, illnesses, and deaths, with the risks projected to increase substantially with additional climate change, threatening the health of many millions of people if there are not rapid increases in investments in adaptation and mitigation. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report makes a powerful case for “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transportation, and cities, with the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by reducing global net human-related emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately 45% from 2010 levels by 2030. This would reduce the risks of exceeding critical thresholds damaging to natural systems and human societies while providing more time for adaptation.
Health professionals have leading roles to play in addressing climate change. They can support health systems in developing effective adaptation to reduce the health risks of climate change, promote healthy behaviors and policies with low environmental impact, support intersectoral action to reduce the environmental footprint of society in general and the health care system specifically, and undertake research and education on climate change and health. The pervasive threats to health posed by climate change demand decisive actions from health professionals and governments to protect the health of current and future generations.
I like the fact that the physicians (especially) and other HCPs see this as their ethical responsibility. This is especially true when you realize that the sick and impoverished are going to 'feel the pain' far more than those of us with greater economic resources.
We WaterWonks should see this through the same lens - to do what's right, and help those in need and indeed, all of humanity and the natural environment. Call it hydrophilanthropy if you want to. But call it worth undertaking.
Enjoy!
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.” - African proverb
cases, including a long-awaited hearing between Georgia and Florida. In reviewing the oral arguments, we were struck by how the justices found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ modeling “incomprehensible,” with much argument about whether water saved in Georgia would actually flow to Florida (Florida v. Georgia 2018; https://bit.ly/2CDuODk). Given improvements in science—for both surface water and groundwater—over the past 150 years, this discussion was dishearteningly similar to the Ohio Supreme Court’s 1861 decision which noted that groundwater was “occult” and therefore could not be easily regulated (Frazier v. Brown 1861).
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