Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

We need to change the way we talk about climate change

Jacob A. Fox
Policy
January 6, 2019
Share
Tweet
Share

There was a point in my life when the words “climate change” would recall pictures of polar bears marooned on precarious chunks of ice, bobbing aimlessly in some foreign landscape of tundra and sea. While tragic, the environmental drama playing out at such extreme latitudes always felt like an abstraction, particularly to a kid growing up in temperate Colorado.

Today, however, as I study medicine and the environmental factors that influence human health, climate change is a daily reality. For me, climate change calls to mind a blue-lipped child struggling for air, her asthma incited by the wildfire smoke that too often drifts through the Front Range towards the plain. The term summons thoughts of the countless families afflicted by emotional trauma after losing their most prized possessions, entire farms and even loved ones in the fires, droughts, and floods that seem to afflict our communities with ever greater violence. Unfortunately, these examples are not fantasies, as such scenes already occur in clinics and emergency rooms in Colorado — and across the country — today.

For anyone with an ounce of humanity, such images are enough to draw attention and arouse the sensibilities, irrespective of whether one votes red or blue. That is why we, as medical and public health professionals, must articulate the link between climate change and its effects on health for the general public. After all, it is high time that we come to a collective understanding that climate change is not a political issue — it is an existential one.

Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an alarming report (SR1.5) authored by over 800 scientists that detailed the perils of an Earth 1.5 ˚C warmer than pre-industrial times. The IPCC’s admonishments caused a fleeting stir in major newsrooms, but quickly receded into the background.

Weeks elapsed. Paradise burned. A prominent science skeptic issued some rather rakish commentary on forest management. Forensic investigators in California were still sifting through the ashes for casualties of the state’s most recent climate disaster when the 4th National Climate Assessment (NCA) report captured headlines. Published on Black Friday (which may have attenuated the resulting fanfare), the product of 13 federal agencies largely corroborates the findings of the IPCC: with continued “business as usual” polluting habits, our forecast for the future ranges from very bad to apocalyptic.

Finally, the annual Lancet Countdown on health and climate change was released to the public. It concludes that we are not progressing quickly enough to curb our emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, nor are we constructing the necessary bulwarks against the emerging threats to human health at a pace commensurate with current climate projections.

With three chilling reports in less than two months, we ought to see the proverbial writing on the wall: Climate change is happening now, our behaviors are driving it, it is hurting us — and it will hurt us more if we fail to correct our habits. Nevertheless, I fear that these consensus findings will once again fade from the forefront of the public conscious. I fear our political environment, which so often seems committed to inertia and inaction. And I fear that from inside the academy we are not reaching people, that the science is not translating into action and as a consequence that we are not effecting the changes we need to ensure that our children inherit from us a world worth living in.

Yet, I still believe there is cause for hope. Both the IPCC report and the NCA leave us a few years for quick and aggressive action, and the Lancet report details the expansive public health benefits of “no-regret” mitigation and adaptation strategies. In order to bring such visions to fruition, climate change — and our contribution to it — needs to occupy a central and perhaps uncomfortable place in our public discourse. It needs to inform our daily decision making, from what we eat to how we move to who we vote for. How do we get there?

To start, we need to change the way we talk about climate change. I began this piece with a limited illustration of how climate change can affect health — though many of us may lack an affinity for polar bears, we human beings still pay attention to human suffering, particularly when it occurs close to home.

Unfortunately, there continues to be a paucity of coverage from high-impact news outlets explicitly linking climate change and health. As experts in health and trusted voices in the community, medical and public health professionals must play a leading role in communicating the health risks of climate change, as well as the health co-benefits of mitigation and adaptation campaigns.

Meanwhile, climate change will continue to kill Americans in floods, in fires, in violent storms. It will usher in hotter days and worse air quality, which, in turn, will land the vulnerable among us in emergency departments and intensive care units. And it will make us sick in subtler ways: by accelerating underlying health problems, by expanding the reach of vector-borne diseases, by hurting workers and the economy, by stressing our infrastructure, by facilitating malnutrition and by threatening the community bonds that confer resilience and gird us against mental illness. The extent of these consequences will depend on how avidly we work to mitigate climate change and adapt our systems for the adversities to come. The avidity with which we work relies on our common understanding that climate change affects us all here and now.

Fortunately, it is not too late to change course. Not yet. Climate change is indelibly linked to human health and well-being. Once we understand this as a society, we can finally focus public attention on the urgent need to curtail global emissions and adapt for the climatological effects that we can no longer prevent. With swift incremental action and stalwart will, we can avert the worst and minimize the human costs we incur. No matter what, we — all of us — will foot the bill.

Jacob A. Fox is a medical student.

ADVERTISEMENT

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Having a baby makes you a very different physician

January 5, 2019 Kevin 0
…
Next

How to transfer residency programs

January 6, 2019 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Having a baby makes you a very different physician
Next Post >
How to transfer residency programs

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • How to address the mental health fallout of climate change

    Rishab Chawla
  • Has your doctor asked you about climate change?

    Martha Bebinger
  • Antibiotic resistance is the climate change of medicine

    Eric Beam, MD
  • Medical education in the era of climate change

    Tyler Greenway and William Hancock-Cerutti
  • To fix health care, ask patients to change their understanding of how a health care system should work

    Richard Young, MD
  • Health care from the trenches: Change must come from us

    Alejandro Badia, MD

More in Policy

  • U.S. health care leadership must prepare for policy-driven change

    Lee Scheinbart, MD
  • How locum tenens work helps physicians and APPs reclaim control

    Brian Sutter
  • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

    Ilan Shapiro, MD
  • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ laws

    BJ Ferguson
  • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

    Carlin Lockwood
  • What Adam Smith would say about America’s for-profit health care

    M. Bennet Broner, PhD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • Why medicine must stop worshipping burnout and start valuing humanity

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

      Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO | Physician
    • How organizational culture drives top talent away [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 19 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • Why medicine must stop worshipping burnout and start valuing humanity

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

      Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO | Physician
    • How organizational culture drives top talent away [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

We need to change the way we talk about climate change
19 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...