When you think of climate change, you probably think of problems with ecological health, like drought, rising sea levels, and wildfires. But climate change can also take a toll on personal health, both physical and mental. Bottom Line Health spoke with Micah B. Hahn, PhD, MPH, to learn more.
“The climate crisis is a human health emergency,” Jonathan Patz, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI), and colleagues wrote in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The editorial points out that “numerous climate-sensitive health risks are scientifically established,” including the risk of death from heat waves, respiratory illness from smog and ozone (which increase when there is more nitrogen dioxide from car exhaust in the air), higher levels of pollen that cause more allergies, physical and mental effects from wildfires, and exposure to infectious diseases like West Nile Virus.
The health impacts of climate change are so pervasive that an article in the March 2021 issue of Academic Medicine called for medical education to include curricula on “climate change and its effect on health.” But you don’t have to wait for your doctor to get up to speed when it comes to climate change and health. You can start protecting yourself today by taking simple precautions and actions.
The higher temperatures we are seeing and will continue to see increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory illness—and death. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimate that warmer average temperatures caused by climate change could result in 11,562 additional annual deaths among Americans 65 years and older, who are more sensitive to heat stress and more likely to develop heat illness.
There are two types of heat risks: 1) a single day with higher-than-normal temperatures, such as the 108º Fahrenheit recorded in Seattle in June 2021; 2) multiple, consecutive days of warm weather, like the “heat dome” that settled over the West in September 2022 for about a week, setting heat records throughout California, Arizona, and other states in the region.
If you’re faced with high heat, there are several steps you can take to lower your risk:
Exposure to smoke is the most direct health impact of a wildfire. Exposure isn’t limited to people near the wildfire. Smoke from wildfires can spread downwind, putting communities far from the fire at risk.
Breathing wildfire smoke can increase your risk of heart attacks, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), long-term heart disease, respiratory distress (shortness of breath), asthma attacks, and even cancer.
In one study, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, looked at visits to the emergency room during wildfires in Southern California and found more than double the normal rate of asthma diagnoses, and more than triple the normal rate of shortness of breath.
Here’s how to lower your risk:
As the globe warms, ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes that were confined to a particular area expand their range, putting more people at risk of diseases carried by these insects. For example, West Nile virus was once confined to Africa, but it’s now the most common form of mosquito-caused disease in the United States.
Take these steps to lower your risk:
Climate change can change your outlook—and not for the better. A study of Alaska’s Swan Lake fire, which burned for nearly four months in the summer of 2019, found that it affected mental health in many ways. As the fire burned, people were anxious for their lives and property. Some people felt claustrophobic, because smoky skies kept them indoors for months. Over the four months, people felt increasingly stressed. The following summer, many experienced stress as other natural disasters like earthquakes struck the area. There was also grief, a sense of loss and helplessness, and mourning for the shattered beauty of the natural environment, as 170,000 acres of trees were reduced to blackened toothpicks. When residents of the area were asked about the best ways to lessen wildfire-related mental health problems, they frequently mentioned:
