Specifically, it calls for policymakers to: 1) make urgent investments in research and interventions that protect health and prioritize equity, 2) account for the health costs of fossil fuel burning in decision-making, and 3) rapidly cut GHG emissions, particularly in areas suffering most from fossil fuel-related air pollution. It concludes by demonstrating how deepening this understanding is essential for evidence-informed policy recommendations.
This year’s Brief explores three interrelated hazards - extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires - to highlight the complexities and nuances of the impacts of climate change on health, including how health risks vary, can be unexpectedly broad, and have far-reaching consequences. Proactive and timely adaptation can reduce risks. Policies have also negatively impacted the health of low-income communities 7_, 8_ and made it harder to adapt to the rapidly changing climate. Decades of racially-biased policies have created inequities, placing individuals and communities who are Black, Latinx, Alaskan Native or American Indian, Asian American or Pacific Islander, and other people of color at increased risk (see 2020 Brief). Health risks from climate change escalate with increased exposure (e.g., by geography or type of work) and heightened susceptibility (e.g., with pregnancy, certain medical conditions, age). While everyone’s health is already at risk, some populations bear a greater burden. For example, climate change increases pollen levels that worsen allergic and respiratory conditions, 5_ and climate-driven increases in temperature and precipitation make it easier to spread waterborne diseases that cause gastrointestinal illness. 4_Ĭlimate change can also produce less obvious harm. 3_ A record 11 hurricanes made landfall - seven as billion-dollar events. with over $95 billion dollars in total losses. 2_ In 2020, a record-breaking 22 weather and climate disasters each caused over one billion dollars in damage (e.g., structural, crop) in the U.S. 1_ Climate change is worsening heat waves, amplifying droughts, intensifying wildfires, supercharging hurricanes, and fueling flood risk through increased heavy rainfall events and rising sea levels.
All of us have been or likely will be affected by climate change, with some hazards more easily recognizable than others. Today’s adverse health impacts of climate change are varied and widespread (see past Briefs). There is no safe global temperature rise from a health perspective, and additional warming will affect every U.S. 2_ The long-predicted consequences of climate change are unfolding, and an urgent reduction in GHG emissions is required to try to avoid reaching 2.7☏ (1.5☌) within the next two decades. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, driven to a large extent by the burning of fossil fuels (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas), have already warmed the world by 2☏ (1.1☌) on average, compared to pre-industrial temperatures.
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