How Climate Change Affects Human Health

We often talk about the ways climate change affects the Earth (think: polar bears teetering on shrinking ice caps) but forget to consider its impact on our own health. Recently, an urgent report from several federal agencies emphasized this connection, including both straightforward consequences (such as that warmer oceans mean more frequent and intense hurricanes) and indirect hazards like how extreme weather events knock out medical services, making it harder to treat people.

“Our health risks are changing because of climate shifts,” says John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., a senior adviser for public health at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Fortunately, we can do our part to lessen the impact of some of these changes by doing things like saving energy to lower our own carbon emissions and pressing our leaders to make climate change a priority. Once you know what to watch for, you can take even more steps to preserve the planet and protect your health. Here’s how to proceed.

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Take a deep breath.

Think of ozone, and you likely picture the atmospheric layer protecting the Earth from radiation. But when emissions from factories and cars mix at ground level with heat and sunlight, ozone becomes the toxic pollution we know as smog. As climate change warms the air, “the reaction that forms ozone happens faster,” Dr. Balbus says. “Ozone is a potent lung irritant. It can bring on asthma attacks and worsen chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.” In fact, a French study found that even people without such conditions were at risk — after just brief exposure, their lungs showed inflammation. Today’s top smog spots include Phoenix, New York City and Houston as well as areas of California, but climate change is causing increased smog in the Northeast in general and in the Ohio River Valley as well.

You might also see your pollen allergies get worse — earlier springs and changes in rainfall may cause ragweed to spread, says Michael Case, Ph.D., a forest ecologist at the Nature Conservancy in Seattle. Case’s 2018 study names upstate New York and New England as prime areas for ragweed expansion. But the biggest breathing danger may be drought- fueled wildfires, through which “unhealthy particles are transported over long distances,” Dr. Balbus says, noting that aerial photos of 2018’s Camp Fire in Northern California tracked them as far as the East Coast. Only a few hours of exposure to these particulates can trigger an asthma attack.

PROTECT YOUR HEALTH: Check the air quality and pollen levels where you live (a free app like AirNow can come in handy). Stay indoors when the numbers are high, especially if you are prone to asthma or hay fever or have a lung disease.

THAT EXTRA STEP: Visit acadiacenter.org to support clean-energy efforts.

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Keep food and water clean.

“Bacteria grow as food sits out in warm temperatures, and the warmer the temperature, the more rapidly that happens,” Dr. Balbus says. Plus, research shows that as overall temperatures rise, it could take more energy to keep food cold during refrigerated transportation and storage to prevent spoilage. If you do eat tainted food, you may simply wind up with uncomfortable cramps and diarrhea, but it can be life-threatening for those with underlying health issues.

It’s not just bacteria in food we have to worry about, though. Waterborne bacteria such as the potentially fatal flesh-eating Vibrio vulnificus thrive in warmer waters and also are responsible for shellfish-induced food poisoning. You may have heard that oysters were safe to eat in months with “R” in them, and that was true when water was colder, but now that summers are longer, raw oysters in September may not be okay anymore, Dr. Balbus says.

On top of that, bacteria like E. coli, campylobacter and cryptosporidium seep from sewage systems into rivers and lakes after intense rainstorms, and because drinking water often comes from these sources, more of us will be exposed to contaminants, especially in the Northeast, the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes area.

PROTECT YOUR HEALTH: Err on the side of caution when eating outside — toss anything that’s not in a cooler after two hours, or after one hour if it’s 90°F or hotter. Wash hands, cutting boards, utensils and countertops after handling raw shellfish, then cook that shellfish thoroughly. After a flooding rain, it can be prudent to drink bottled water until authorities test your local system.

THAT EXTRA STEP: Visit ciel.org to help the Center for International Environmental Law hold corporations accountable for their less-than-Earth-friendly actions.

Slow disease spread.

Populations of ticks and mosquitoes that feed on blood are already expanding beyond their original habitats, which is why “some experts say Lyme disease is the first epidemic of climate change,” says Linda Marsa, author of Fevered: Why a Hotter Planet Will Hurt Our Health — and How We Can Save Ourselves. Confirmed cases of Lyme disease have grown from under 20,000 to around 30,000 in just over a decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This sometimes debilitating condition, once confined to the Northeast, is now found in many parts of the country that have gotten warmer.

Other “vector-borne” diseases (ones transmitted by bugs and such) are also on the march. Dengue fever, after decades of being less common, is showing up in southern Texas and South Florida. West Nile virus and Zika are spread by mosquitoes moving beyond their traditional locations due to warmer weather.

PROTECT YOUR HEALTH: Cover your skin and use insect repellent when outside. Check your body and clothing for ticks; if you see one, remove the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible. No matter what, see a doctor if you have symptoms of Lyme disease (fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, swollen lymph nodes or a rash within a few days, or joint pain and swelling, heart palpitations, nerve pain, facial palsy, dizziness or memory issues). Minimize mosquito bites by removing standing water and using screens on windows.

THAT EXTRA STEP: If you develop a vector-borne disease, encourage your doctor to report it to the state or local health department, as accurate numbers can lead to more federal resources for future treatments.

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Stay cool.

Hurricanes and flooding are big weather dangers, but heat waves have killed the most people in the past 30 years — some 650 excess deaths now occur each year from extreme heat, while more than 65,000 people end up in the ER because of it, reports the CDC. “A lot of people who die of heat stress are actually those with healthy hearts who spend too much time outside,” Dr. Balbus says, including folks who work outdoors or exercise or play sports in the heat. People in cities may be most at risk, due to what is called the “heat island effect” — heat radiating off hot paved surfaces. Longer summers also mean greater exposure to the sun, which is why experts predict more skin cancer.

PROTECT YOUR HEALTH: Stay hydrated and avoid strenuous outdoor activity when under a heat alert. If you don’t have air-conditioning, head to a cooling shelter. If you live in an urban area, band together with others to plant trees and rooftop gardens; these can reduce ambient temps citywide by up to 5°F. And wear a hat and clothes that cover your skin, along with sunscreen, when outside.

THAT EXTRA STEP: To help protect the world’s rain forests, which help absorb the carbon dioxide that contributes to heating the planet, check out rainforesttrust.org.

Feel better emotionally.

The mental health consequences of major weather events are profound and underappreciated, and a substantial proportion of people experience long-term issues, Dr. Balbus says. An intense storm can thrust people into homelessness, destroy incomes and uproot kids from schools, stressing entire communities. For example, four months after Hurricane Harvey, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston found that 18% of area residents had signs of serious psychological distress.

Anxiety is also rising in people who have not been hit directly: Nearly 40% of Americans are fearful of climate change, according to a survey by Yale and George Mason universities. “Even if you don’t have forest fires or floods near you, you see them on the news,” says Paul Schramm, M.S., M.P.H., a health scientist with the climate and health program at the CDC. “That can take a toll on your mental health.”

PROTECT YOUR HEALTH: You may feel less anxiety about climate change if you take steps to help reduce it. Vote for federal and local legislators who pledge immediate action, then press them to take it, says Lindsay Meiman, a spokesperson with the advocacy group 350.org. Other actions found to be effective in a 2017 Environmental Research Letters article: Take public transportation, or at least buy a more efficient car if you can; power your home with solar, wind or other green energy; take fewer transatlantic flights (avoiding one round trip saves up to 13 times as much CO2 emissions as recycling for a year); and eat a plant-based diet (which not only will aid the planet, but also is better for your health).

THAT EXTRA STEP: Preparing for a weather disaster in advance may also ease worry — visit usa.gov/prepare-for-disasters for how-tos. And if anxiety about climate change (or anything else) overwhelms you, reach out to a therapist.

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