Climate Change & Well-Being: The Role for Health Promotion Professionals

Abstract

Extreme weather events throughout the U.S. have compounded suffering from the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism. With time remaining in the fire season in California, wildfires there have burned nearly 4-million acres—more than doubling the damage from any prior year. By mid-September, Hurricane Sally represented the seventh hurricane of the 2020 season. And in early August, an intense hurricane-force windstorm left destruction in its wake across vast swaths of the Midwest. The U.S. is certainly not alone in its experience of an increased frequency of catastrophic and deadly natural disasters. Nineteen of the 20 hottest years have been since 2001. The 5 hottest have been the last 5 years. The year 2019 was also a record for ocean temperatures and for the loss of 530 billion tons of ice from the Greenland ice sheet. 2020 began with the worst-ever brush fires in Australia. The devastation caused by these manifestations of climate change has the potential to raise awareness and shift thinking on climate change if people can see and understand the ways in which climate change is contributing to them. Some people are undoubtedly already convinced about the compelling evidence that climate change is in fact a crisis that requires urgent action. Recent data indicate that nearly three quarters of Americans believe that climate change is occurring; over 60% endorse that it is caused by humans; and two-thirds believe climate change is affecting the weather. In fact, in late 2019, the majority of Americans reported that climate change was the most important social issue. More than 65% are at least somewhat worried about climate change, and almost half of young adults (age 18-34) report that stress about climate change impacts their daily lives. Eco-anxiety is just one of the myriad ways climate change adversely affects the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and countries. Climate change has both acute and long-term impacts on health. Beyond the injuries, fatalities, and psychological impacts and trauma of natural disasters, climate change creates air pollution that can lead to asthma and CVD. Ozone pollution increases allergens and asthma. Prolonged exposure to air pollution can lead to neurological problems and cognitive dysfunction. Those are disturbing potential consequences, particularly when one considers that the recent wildfires in Oregon resulted in air quality so poor it exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum measure of dangerous air. Even small increases in particulate matter (i.e., more air pollution) is associated with an 8% increase in the COVID-19 death rate in the U.S. Adverse impacts on water and food supplies can lead to malnutrition and diarrheal disease. Climate change will also increase vector-and water-borne diseases. Extreme heat can lead to heat-related illnesses, death, and heart failure. As communities become uninhabitable, forced migration will also take a toll. Studies that paired meteorological data with mental health data from nearly 2 million U.S. adults reveal that climate change has direct and indirect effects on mental health: e.g., shortterm exposure to rain and extreme heat worsen mental health; as do long-term warming and exposure to extreme weather events. The articles in this issue by Brian Gifford and Juanita Constible and Kim Knowlton further address physical and mental health implications for employers, as well as the impacts on productivity. Other potential effects can be harder to measure directly. In a TED talk, Britta Wray highlights that many young adults are experiencing