Policy News
Climate change: a looming public-health crisis
A new survey reveals a lack of resources and training among public-health workers to respond to health problems related to climate change.
It isn't just the health of the environment that is in the clutches of climate change. Changing climate will also impact human health. Yet the U.S. public-health system is poorly prepared to respond to climate-related threats, according to a report (PDF Size: 917 KB) by the National Association of County and City Health Officials; the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization; and George Mason University.
People around the world are already reeling from the effects of changes in global climate. Rising temperatures are expanding the areas impacted by infectious diseases like malaria. Intense storms, floods, and droughts are claiming lives as well as escalating injuries and mental-health issues, such as depression. These problems are only likely to increase in the future. Local public-health departments are the first line of defense against such human-health crises, according to the first nationwide survey of local public-health directors that evaluates their preparedness to deal with these difficulties.
Even though 70% of the directors said they believed that global warming was already affecting the health of their communities, they also confessed to a gap in knowledge about climate change within their departments. Although 50% said that the issue of climate-related health problems was an "important priority," only 19% said it was one of their top 10 concerns. An overwhelming 82% confessed to lacking the expertise needed to plan ahead for climate-related changes, and 77% expressed the need for additional resources, including more funding, staff, and training, to improve their ability to deal with the problem.
"These findings show that while public-health officials recognize the need to be prepared for adverse health impacts from climate change, there are serious gaps in the U.S. public-health system to meet that need," says John Balbus, chief health scientist at EDF.
The recommendations in the report include increased federal funding for community-based participatory studies to elucidate the connection between a changing climate and health.
Science
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Technology
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Plugging in to more water use
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Policy
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EPA proposes tougher lead rule
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EPA toxicity risk assessments in crisis
Political interference and lack of transparency taint science and delay assessments.
Business & Education
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ES&T Associate Editor Dzombak named to NAE
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