Climate, Energy, and Health

“There are two ways to think about public health. One is of public health measures, like vaccination preparedness and so on. But the other is ecological, environmental, and social conditions that underlie our health. And that’s where we’re seeing the greatest threat for health from climate change.”
-Paul Epstein, M.D., former Associate Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, author, Changing Planet, Changing Health

Global climate change is one of the most pressing and present scientific issues of this century. Rising temperature, sea level rise, extreme weather events, compromised air quality, and emergence of disease are all impacting this planet to varying degrees. Climate change has multiple implications for human health.

The following are direct and indirect ways that climate change impacts human health, both now and in the future:

• heatwaves
• asthma and allergies
• spread of infectious disease
• extreme weather events
• drought
• food insecurity
• impacts to the complex ecological systems that support life on earth