(Forbes) Climate Change And Health: A Heart Specialist’s Notes On How A Warming Planet Impacts Our Health And Wellbeing

Forbes - Bill Frist

Author Bill Frist is a heart and lung transplant surgeon, former U. S. Senate Majority Leader, and host of the podcast “A Second Opinion, Rethinking American Health”. He is vice-chairman of Global Board of The Nature Conservancy and an adjunct professor of Cardiac Surgery at Vanderbilt University.

This week, horrific and deadly tornados afflicted my home state Tennessee, killing at least 89 people across five states.

Experts are studying the degree to which these storms were causally connected to rising temperatures, but the fact remains that deadly tornadoes are occurring more often in regions of the country like my hometown where they were once rare.

Indeed, here in Nashville the environment and climate are changing; scientists have seen a measurable increase in number and intensity of tornadoes over the past 40 years.

A Teddy Bear sits among the remains of what where once houses after extreme weather hit the area, in Bowling Green, Kentucky on December 13, 2021. (Photo by GUNNAR WORD/AFP via Getty Images)

The tragic storms from this past weekend show the impact nature can have on our economy and physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. We can no longer ignore that climate and our environment are linked directly to our health. Valuing our health means also valuing healthy ecosystems.

Perspectives from a Heart and Lung Expert

Professionally, from my perspective as a cardiac and pulmonary physician, the science is clear. Climate change accelerates heart and lung disease, leading to a higher burden of morbidity and mortality.

The numbers are staggering, and the scientific evidence is irrefutable. It has been long documented that pollution released into the environment by human activity is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The Global Burden of Disease study estimates that pollution caused at least 9 million deaths globally in 2019, 62% of which were due to cardiovascular disease including ischemic heart disease and stroke.

LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 11: Downtown highrise buildings are shown cloaked in dirty air shortly after sunrise September 11, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. Numerous wildfires in the region have also contributed to Los Angeles’ air pollution problem. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Further, rising temperatures resulting from climate change amplify the damage of air pollution on heart, vascular, and lung health through a variety of interconnecting ways. Both temperature extremes and temperature variability are associated with increased mortality from stroke and myocardial infarction.

Higher temperatures also increase ground-level ozone formation. And, they enhance the likelihood of wildfires and windstorms, both of which produce fine particulate matter directly damaging the lungs and heart. With higher temperatures there is more use of electricity, which leads to more use of fossil fuels, producing incrementally more pollution, and the destructive cycle continues.

What else we know

Macro-level policy decisions we make about climate change, domestically and globally, impact the health of individuals all over the world. We cannot continue to shield our eyes and hope that this will go away without action.

Our hesitancy to curb emissions and our failure to have nonpartisan conversations only exacerbate health concerns and delay healing. Increased air pollution and allergens lead to respiratory distresses and illnesses; flooding, wildfires, and tornados lead to injury and death; temperature extremes lead to heatstroke and hypothermia; and all these stressors impact our mental and emotional health. 

In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published their newest report on the state of Earth’s climate change. Since its beginning in 1988, the IPCC has published six assessment reports, including the most recent one, and each report has been more alarming than the last. This sixth report, culled from 14,000 peer-reviewed studies, determined, for the first time ever, an unequivocal, causal relationship between humans and our warming planet. 

The report confirmed what has long been suspected: climate change is an unfortunate reality that we can longer afford to ignore. It requires immediate attention and action. It is now a matter of when – not if – we start seeing the consequences of our greenhouse gas emissions, and the report suggests that we are beginning to suffer the ramifications.

WAVERLY, TN – AUGUST 21: In this handout image provided by the Nashville Fire Department, flash flooding is seen on August 21, 2021 in Waverly, Tennessee. Heavy rains caused the flooding that killed over 20 people. (Photo by Nashville Fire Department via Getty Images)

What were considered once-in-a-century natural disasters, for example, are becoming more frequent. Melting arctic regions and rising sea levels have scientists on high alert. Dry and wet regions continue to head toward their extremes. Some of the impacts of climate change are being felt at the individual level.

Why should we pay attention to climate change? Because it matters, to me and to you, in particular as we look through the lens of its impact on health. It is time we come together to discuss and address the impact we have on our environment—if not for our planet, then for our health, and if not for ourselves, then for each other.

Links

• (CNBC) Yale Psychologist: How To Cope In A World Of Climate Disasters, Trauma And Anxiety
• (AU MJA Insight) Climate Change, Human Health, And Health Care Systems
• (RenewEconomy) Coal Power Plants Are Killing Millions With Air Pollution And Must Be Closed, Research Find
• (Washington Post) Inaction On Climate Change Imperils Millions Of Lives, Doctors Say
• (AU The Conversation) Better Building Standards Are Good For The Climate, Your Health, And Your Wallet. Here’s What The National Construction Code Could Do Better
• (AU Canberra Times) AMA And Medical Colleges Write To PM To Warn Of Climate Health Risk