Climate Change and Human Health

Lesley JantarasamiEPA Office of Air and Radiation

Office of Atmospheric ProgramsMay 21, 2015

Presentation to the National Tribal Forum

For public health, climate change is the defining issue for the

21st century.Margaret Chan: Director General of

World Health Organization

Climate change is a public health issue and is one of the greatest threats to

human health.Lynn Goldman, Testimony to Subcommittee on Energy and Power,

Representing American Public Health Association

Few Americans are aware of the current or projected future health impacts of global warming [for the U.S. or worldwide].Public Perceptions of the Health Consequences of Global Warming, Yale Project on Climate Change Communication

US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)

Mission: To build a knowledge base that informs human responses to climate and global change through coordinated and integrated federal programs of research, education, communication, and decision support

Motivation

Purpose

Audience

USGCRP Climate and Health Assessment

The cast = lots of acronyms Product of USGCRP

Part of NCA

Driven by CCHHG

Coordinated by EPA

Written by HHS (NIH, CDC,

NIOSH, ASPR, FDA, SAMHSA,

USUHS, VA), NOAA, EPA, USDA,

NASA, USGS, DOD…

What’s in1. Climate Change and Human Health (Intro)2. Temperature-Related Death and Illness3. Air Quality Impacts4. Vectorborne Disease5. Water-Related Illnesses6. Food Safety, Nutrition, and Distribution7. Extreme Weather8. Mental Health and Well-Being9. Risk Factors and Populations of Concern

What’s out Mitigation, adaptation, or economic valuation Policy recommendations Most compounding, secondary, or cumulative

climate and health effects Assessment of research needs

Informing other Federal Climate and Health Initiatives

Climate Data Initiative (climate.data.gov)• Over 150 Federal climate and health datasets that are freely accessible to

researchers and data innovators to produce new tools and applications.

Climate Resilience Toolkit (toolkit.climate.gov)• Provides scientific tools, information, and expertise to help people manage their

climate-related risks and improve resiliency to extreme events.

Sustainable Climate Resilience Healthcare Facilities Initiative• Best Practices Guide and Toolkit to improve healthcare resiliency to extreme events.

An “interim report”

• To be published between the Third and Fourth National Climate Assessments• Current plan for release is Spring 2016– After National Research Council (NRC) peer review

– After interagency review and clearance

Strengthens and expands our understanding of health impacts

• Updated Findings• Stronger Evidence• New analyses • Broader Scope• Identifies Risks and Vulnerabilities

This is a DRAFT

www.globalchange.gov/health-assessment

Climate change • is a significant threat to the health of the

American people

• exposes more people in more places to public health threats

• exacerbates and accelerates some existing health threats and creates new public health challenges

Draft Findings

NON-CLIMATE STRESSORS

• Land-use change• Ecosystem degradation• Infrastructure condition• Geography• Agricultural production

& livestock use

CLIMATE DRIVERS• Increased temperature• Precipitation extremes• Extreme weather events• Sea level rise

EXPOSURE PATHWAYS• Extreme heat• Poor air quality• Reduced food & water quality• Changes in infectious agents• Population displacement

HEALTH OUTCOMES• Heat-related illness• Cardiopulmonary illness• Food-, water-, & vectorborne

disease• Mental health consequences

& stress

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS• Age & gender• Race & Ethnicity• Poverty• Housing &

infrastructure• Education• Discrimination• Access to care &

community health infrastructure

Draft Findings

Temperature-Related Death and Illness

Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases lead to a warming of both average and extreme temperatures. This is expected to lead to a decrease in deaths from cold and an increase in deaths and illness from heat, particularly for a number of communities especially vulnerable to these changes, such as children, the elderly, and disadvantaged groups.

Draft Findings

Air Quality Impacts

Changes in the climate affect the air we breathe both indoors and outdoors. The changing climate has modified weather patterns, which in turn have influenced the levels and location of outdoor air pollutants such as ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. Increasing CO2 levels will also promote the growth of plants that release airborne allergens.

Draft Findings

Vectorborne Diseases

The seasonality, distribution, and prevalence of vectorborne diseases are influenced significantly by climate factors, primarily high and low temperature extremes and precipitation patterns. Climate change is likely to have both short- and long-term effects on vectorborne disease transmission and infection patterns, affecting both seasonal risk and broad geographic changes in disease occurrence over decades.

Draft Findings

Water-Related Illness

Across most of the United States, climate change is expected to affect fresh and marine water sources in ways that will increase people’s exposure to contaminants that cause illness. Certain climate and weather factors enhance the growth, survival, spread, and virulence, or toxicity, of water-related pathogens and toxins, which make them more likely to cause disease.

Draft Findings

Food Safety, Nutrition, and Distribution

Draft Findings

Extreme Weather

Climate change has already resulted in a shift in the frequency, intensity, and duration of certain extreme events. Health hazards associated with extreme events can result in death, injury, disease, and other negative effects on human physical, mental, and social well-being.

Draft Findings

Mental Health and Well-Being

Draft Findings

Climate-Health Risk Factors & Populations of Concern

Populations of concern include those with low income, communities of color, those with limited English proficiency and immigrant groups, Indigenous peoples, children and pregnant women, older adults, certain occupational groups, persons with functional disabilities, and persons with biologically determined vulnerability, such as pre-existing or chronic medical conditions.

Draft Findings

Climate-Health Risk Factors & Populations of Concern

Spotlight on Indigenous Peoples Section of Chapter

– Food Safety and Security– Water Security– Loss of Cultural Identity– Degraded infrastructure and other impacts

Photos: Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic

Photo: US DOI

Draft Findings

Demonstration of the USGCRP Public Review and Comment System

Submit Comments: April 7 – June 8 (by noon EDT)https://review.globalchange.gov

Thank You!

Contact me at: jantarasami.lesley@epa.gov

www.globalchange.gov/health-assessment

review.globalchange.gov