09 Apr It’s All Related: Climate Change and Public Health

Things have changed. 

Climate change is no longer just about the environment. Its effects will hurt more than just polar bears and card-carrying hippies. It will hurt everyone, and that is the message that the Obama administration brought to Austin this week.

Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and an environmental policy advisor to President Obama, visited Austin on Tuesday to meet with Mayor Steve Adler about some of the more far-reaching effects of climate change. Specifically, she spoke about the connection between climate change and public health. 

Experts are always talking about climate change in relation to the environment and energy development, Goldfuss said, “but what today is about…is really looking across our society at the impacts of this moral challenge that we really face.”

One of these broad impacts of climate change is the effect that warming temperatures have on public health. Climate change can lead to more smog, longer allergy seasons, and an increased incidence of vector-borne illnesses, according to a press release from the White House. Hotter, wetter climates breed more mosquitoes, and higher temperatures cause more days with high ozone levels, both of which are potentially bad for health. 

What’s worse, these negative health effects tend to hit the poor, young, and elderly the hardest, exacerbating existing gaps in health care in underserved communities. “We have a moral obligation to protect our most vulnerable Americans, just as we have a moral obligation to leave behind a planet that’s a little healthier, a little cleaner, and a place that our children and grandchildren can enjoy,” Goldfuss said. 

In order to do that, Goldfuss and Adler convened a group of local stakeholders and public health officials on Tuesday for a round table discussion on how best to deal with the impacts of climate change. Representatives from the University of Texas’ new medical school, Austin/Travis County Department of Health and Human Services, and the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability were all in attendance to discuss the reality of the problem, as well as to ensure that Adler is well informed about the issues. 

“I happened to get elected but there is so much more for me to learn, so I was very excited about gathering this particular group together to talk,” Adler said, kicking off the round table discussion. 

The discussion marked one of Adler’s first public-facing actions on climate change since he took office. 

The goal of the discussion, Adler said, was simply to educate the public about the connection between public health and climate change and to start a conversation amongst local leaders to make sure that Austin is equipped to deal with a growing problem.

The general mood of the discussion (only part of which was open to the public) was positive, with a focus not just on the doom and gloom, but on the region’s ability to recognize the potential public health hazards associated with climate change and to act early to control them. 

The discussion was tied to a broader national effort spearheaded by the White House, which included conversations with the Surgeon General on the impacts of climate change on public health, the public release of over 150 data sets to better inform scientific research on climate change and public health, and a pledge by 30 different medical schools from across the country to train the next generation of health professionals to deal with the impacts of climate change. 

They key takeaway was that at long last, the connections between climate change and public health are finally being made. But now that we’ve admitted we have a problem, we still have to find a solution.