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Climate Change: A Public Health Issue

Hey all, welcome back to Let’s Talk About Climate Change!

As always (which I’m sure you’re getting a sense of by now), I hope you’ve enjoyed last week’s post in which I discussed climate change as it intersects with socioeconomic issues. I mainly discussed how climate change can exacerbate the effects of those who are underprivileged and have an already-low socioeconomic status. Climate change can also raise health concerns, which will be my main context of the discussion in this week’s post.

Seemingly two very removed topics, climate change and health intersect more than what their fields may suggest.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that “Climate change, together with other natural and human-made health stressors, influences human health and disease in numerous ways. Some existing health threats will intensify and new health threats will emerge.” This effectively lays the groundwork for our discussion, as it’s made evident that climate change has a direct negative impact on health.

This is not a new issue and as you know from previous posts, climate change is worsening as time goes by. This should spark worry in those who care about health, as Howard Frumkin, MD, MPH, DrPH states in the following video on the subject:

There are plenty of ways that climate change can negatively affect health. Most of the worry, however, comes from air and water quality. Air quality has the potential of impacting climate change and climate change can impact air quality. This is typically due to the emission of pollutants into the air, including greenhouse gasses which we already know are a main contender in affecting the climate.  Further, as the American Public Health Association (APHA) states, rises in temperature can cause a series of health concerns, some of which include heat stress conditions such as heat stroke as well as respiratory problems due to how higher temperatures are associated with the build-up of dangerous and harmful air pollutants. Personally, with Chicago being one of the main bigger cities facing this issue, I’ve even noticed that I’ve even become more dependent on my inhaler, having a predisposition to lung and breathing issues.

When it comes to water quality, the worsening climate can result in a lack of clean water and, as we know, (clean) water is essential to our health and wellbeing. The Weather Channel has recently updated their logo to say “The Water Channel” (I just noticed it on my phone today while writing this post!) in order to bring awareness to the importance of clean water. Here’s a video they’ve been advertising on their website:

The most popular example of the effect that climate change can have on water quality as it relates to health is the Flint, Michigan story, now more commonly referred to as the Flint water crisis. Essentially, a few years back, Flint’s water supply was switched from being based in Detroit to being from Flint River which is highly toxic and contains harmful pollutants (most specifically, lead). This was their drinking water. Because of this, many people became sick and have been fighting for approximately three years now for clean water, still hoping for a concrete resolution. Scott Pruitt, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on it vaguely, using loose language while Maryland’s Sen. Cardin blatantly talks about climate change and Flint’s water crisis as a public health issue.

Finally, beyond just air and water, protecting our Earth and its atmosphere is important because there are even more threats to our own health than what meets the eye. 

What can we do to help this? Well, here are a few potential ideas to consider:

- Donate to organizations that are directly fighting against the effects of climate change and public health. Here are a couple organizations that do so:

Simply Virtuous

American Public Health Association 

- Call your local representatives and ask about what direct implementations are being accounted for in legislation for the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

- Be cognizant about what you’re doing to the Earth; be sure to never loiter, throw toxic chemicals in public lands, and decrease any amount of toxic chemicals on natural territory.

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Climate Change: A Socioeconomic Issue

Hey there, everybody!

Welcome back to another week of Let’s Talk About Climate Change–I hope you’ve been enjoying it so far and that you’ve learned more from the embedded links, videos, and graphics within each post, diving deeper and deeper into this issue each week.

Last week, we talked about how climate change is a political issue and how it interacts with the lives of the American people.

In case you missed it, here’s a quick recap: In response to the emerging and harmful effects of climate change, there have been political protests as well as a general consensus among both parties (though some see it as a partisan issue–Sen. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks about this here) which states that there needs to be legislation directly limiting the production of greenhouse gasses, the leading cause of climate change. As noted, many 2020 Presidential candidates have made climate change one of their most important discussed issues, responding to this worry.

Most of this worry, arguably, comes from the effects climate change can have on this week’s topic: socioeconomics. What is socioeconomics? Well, rather bluntly, it’s described as the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes.

How does it interact with climate change?

Climate change has a direct impact on economic activity, not only locally (as we’ll get to shortly!), but globally as well. This inherently affects the social status of those in countries that aren’t as geographically fortunate as the United States of America is. There are many countries that are coastal that could face extremely severe ramifications of climate change as sea levels rise. Not does a slight increase of sea level impact these countries more drastically than bigger nations such as the USA or larger countries, but it also poses a serious issue which raises the question, where will these people go?

Further, it’s harder for these coastal nations, who rely on shipping coastal goods for their economy, to fight for their survival because of this inherent impact their economy faces in tragic natural disasters which are more severe due to climate change.

Here's a video from Vice News explaining this further, specifically as it relates to the Maldives Islands:

One study states, “the negative impacts of climate change are likely to outweigh the positive ones. These negative impacts will be substantially greater in poorer, hotter, and lower-lying countries. Because poverty causes vulnerability to climate change, development is a complementary strategy to GHG emissions reduction; any trade-off between slower economic growth and lower emissions needs to be carefully considered. At the same time, climate change may affect the growth rate of the economy and may trap more people in poverty, although estimates of the size of these effects vary from negligible to substantial. Thus climate change would appear to be an important issue primarily for those who are concerned about the distant future, faraway lands, and remote probabilities.”

Clearly, socioeconomic status and climate change are directly related. You may even be wondering at this point, “cool, I see why it’s important to talk about, but how does this pertain to me?”–especially if you live in a bigger city. Well, luckily for us, Vox created an interactive platform that allows you to type in the large city closest to you and compares scientific predictions to that of current records.

For example, Chicago’s precipitation is projected to increase incrementally by about a half an inch within the next thirty years. Though this doesn’t seem like a big deal, this incremental change can have a huge effect on the city’s population–primarily harming those in more disadvantaged positions and who suffer from homelessness. Because more funding would need to go toward cleaning up the city’s streets, less would be allotted to public funding for schools, homeless shelters, and other organizations helping the disadvantaged. However, if flooding occurs, those who are forced to systematically spend most of their time on the streets put their lives at risk. This also correlates with rising temperatures, creating a less livable city climate.

On a more local and anecdotal note, as a Chicago resident, this past week and weekend with spurts of heavy downpour speak to the effects of this climate change. Because of the lack of funding in Chicago’s water management and consumer and environmental hearings in which citizens can discuss the impacts of the environmental change in real-time, there was plenty of water standing leading to canceled social and community events--especially those in more underserved neighborhoods such as Hyde Park’s Brew Fest. 

It’s clear that socioeconomic status and climate change are inversely related. What can we do now?

Educate yourself. Here’s more from the EPA’s website on Environmental Justice.

Donate to organizations that work directly with these communities.

Call your local representatives and demand change!

Demand sustainable and environmentally just legislation. 

I’ll see you next week!

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Climate Change: A Political Issue

Welcome back to the second installment of Let’s Talk about Climate Change! I hope last week’s post was beneficial for you and you have a solid understanding of climate change and why it is, most simply, an important topic to discuss.

Here’s a quick recap in case you missed it:

climate ≠ weather

weather describes the day to day outside experience, meaning it changes and fluctuates often (i.e., day by day)

climate can be operationalized as the weather combined across a long period of time, meaning it gradually changes over time (i.e., decades)

There is a general consensus by scientists and experts in the field that the climate is gradually increasing in average temperature, which shows damaging and possibly threatening results to the planet’s ecosystem.

If nothing is done to stop the destructive effects of climate change, there will be extremely dangerous consequences (and perhaps an uninhabitable Earth).

This week, I’ll be discussing the politics of climate change--what they are and why they’re important to understand.

From NPR's Fresh Air Podcast: 'Losing Earth' Explores How Oil Industry Played Politics With The Planet's Fate

If you’re at all involved in current political discourse, you already know how important of an issue it is. Already, most of the political candidates for the 2020 election have given statements on climate change and their contingency plans given the chance to work in office as one of the World’s most powerful leaders. If that doesn’t show you that climate change is a political issue, I’m not too sure what will.

In considering the response surrounding climate change in America, Yale has released a report in December of 2018 titled Climate Change in the American Mind which looks at general beliefs and perceptions on climate change in the United States. The report “documents a continued upward trend in Americans’ concern about global warming [...] including substantial increases in Americans’ certainty that global warming is happening and harming people in the United States now.” More than anything, this report signifies that the American people are increasingly convinced that climate change is happening, harmful, and worthy of serious political action. This would be of interest to all politicians since it’s of high concern among most Americans.

Because it is the job of elected officials to be the voice of the American people, more and more we are demanding that something not only be said, but also done, about this issue.Climate Change has affected the lives of many Americans (nearly half at 46% have experienced these effects) and action is being demanded to ensure the wellbeing of the American people, which should be of primary concern for politicians.

From The Washington Post's "Supreme Court refuses to block young people’s climate lawsuit against U.S. government"

Most of these dangerous effects of climate change are due to human activity and, arguably, are the main cause of these effects. It’s said that the burning of fossil fuels and the release of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into the atmosphere is the primary cause. This is an issue because CO2 is a heat-trapping gas which accounts for the overall warming of the climate--often referred to as one of a few “greenhouse gas,” meaning any gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. CO2 is emitted through the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and coal.

This is where the political side of things gets interesting. The reason that climate change is a political issue is because politicians can pass legislation that would be able to directly reduce the amount of CO2 emissions since the government essentially oversees the ways in which these fossil fuels are used (i.e., the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, etc.).

As the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions states, “Congress is responsible for authorizing laws to address the climate challenge and appropriating funding for relevant programs. The Clean Air Act, for instance, provides the foundation for many existing climate policies.”

Unfortunately, climate change has somehow found itself being a partisan issue. Many conservatives deny climate change and their blatant dangerous effects, while Democrats encourage direct action. Because of the current state of the nation and the partisan divide within the White House, there’s a clear divide between what legislators and stakeholders in what needs to be done.

Here's a video done by National Geographic in which Rhode Island Congressman discusses a few of the issues mentioned within this post:

So, what can you do as an American citizen to combat climate change? Here are a few ways you can take action:

vote for candidates who support legislation that will help combat the dangerous effects of climate change

support organizations that value sustainability and climate change action

donate to said organizations

call your local representatives and voice your concerns over climate change

speak up and make your voice heard!

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Climate Change: An Issue

Hello and welcome to Let’s Talk About Climate Change! I’m glad you’re here. It’s important that you’re here! This is the first of many posts, and in it, my goal is to set the stage for the rest of the entries–allowing you to familiarize yourself briefly with both the subject and prepare you to engage with the texts that will proceed.

So, let’s get into it. As the title suggests, this blog is dedicated to opening discourse on climate change and the various ways in which it affects the world around us as we’ve come to know it.

This big beautiful Earth is a muse to many. It’s naturality and pure wonder never cease to amaze and bring things into perspective, but we’re killing it. How do we know this? Because of climate change.

First, you may be asking yourself: What does “climate change” even mean?

Great question! Well, climate change is defined by NASA as being “a change in the usual weather found in a place” as well as “a change in Earth’s climate.” That being said, it’s important to identify the difference between climate and weather. While weather is rather temporary and changes day to day, “climate” is used to define the weather of a place. For example, the weather in Chicago may be scorching hot on August 3rd, but you wouldn’t say that Chicago has a warm climate. Rather, you could say that the weather is hot on that day, but describing Chicago’s climate isn’t as easy and requires more words than just “hot” or “cold” since it’s often described as being “typically continental with cold winters, warm summers, and frequent short fluctuations in temperature, humidity, cloudiness, and wind direction."

Further, you must also consider Earth’s climate which is an aggregate combination of all of the climates on the planet. So, now we know, weather = temporary changes in what we see and feel outside day to day in a specific place and climate = the usual weather of that place. Because weather often does and is meant to fluctuate, whereas climate is supposed to remain relatively stagnant with gradual change over time, it’s important to note when considering climate change that “Weather can change in just a few hours. Climate takes hundreds or even millions of years to change.” This is a big deal and puts climate change into a more contextual importance.

Now that you know what “climate change” means, let’s talk about how it’s a current issue our society is facing.

Because the Earth’s climate is always changing, some have argued that this shouldn’t be an issue. Well, though that’s true, I’m here to tell you that it is an issue. Earth’s climate is getting warmer and warmer and with a gradual increase by about one degree Fahrenheit in temperature over the last century, these changes have huge effects that are affecting the everyday lives of not only humans but other species as well. One of the most obvious effects and frequently discussed by scientists and other public officials is that of glacier melting and the subsequent rising of oceans as a result of and evidence for drastic climate change.

Here's a graphic from NASA on the impact of climate change on glaciers to show its effect:

Among glaciers, plenty of scientists have accumulated various methods of evidence used to prove the fact that climate change is real and that it is destructive. Further, not only is it real, but it’s also because of human activity that we have seen such an increase in temperature. Retroactively, scientists are trying to say to the entire population, “Look, we want to live long lives, but with the ways we are treating our planet, that’s likely not going to be possible,” beckoning for a call to action–however, this isn’t always too easy with some of the most powerful people on Earth (including President Trump) saying “climate change isn’t real.”

So, with unanimity from scientists and recognition from public officials and higher, more powerful institutions, there’s no doubt that climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed and permeates life in ways other than watching time-lapse videos of glaciers melting and using a reusable straw.

In the following posts, I will discuss how climate change is an issue that has found itself contextualized in other areas of life such as politics, economics, and health while providing some small next steps that we can take to ensure that we keep this planet turning.

See you next week!