BMJ 2015;350:h1947 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1947 (Published 10 April 2015)
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News
NEWS Obama warns of climate change threat to public health Michael McCarthy Seattle
Climate change poses a threat to the health of all Americans, President Barack Obama said on 7 April, citing the dangers posed by deteriorating air quality associated with higher temperatures, more extreme weather, and the spread of insect-borne diseases that previously have been confined to nations further south. “All of our families are going to be vulnerable. You can’t cordon yourself off from air or from the climate,” the president said.
Obama made his comments as his administration announced a series of actions to tackle the effects on health of climate change, including the release of a draft Climate and Health Assessment report prepared by the US Global Change Research Program1; a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that highlights action taken by local health agencies to reduce the health impacts of climate change2; and 150 health related datasets from the government’s Climate Data Initiative that researchers and communities will be able to access for information on air and water quality, infectious disease outbreaks, and morbidity and mortality trends.3 The administration also announced several public-private collaborations targeting the effects of climate change on health, including projects with Google and Microsoft. Google, for example, will provide climate related data on its Google Earth Engine geospatial analysis platform, which will allow researchers, health officials, and clinicians to track health threats,
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
such as those from emerging infectious diseases and air pollution, and to create publicly available, dynamically updating disease risk maps. Microsoft is prototyping an autonomous, drone deployed device that can collect mosquitoes and gene sequence pathogens, to serve as a potential early warning system of vectorborne diseases. In his comments Obama downplayed concern that climate change would prove too costly to tackle, noting that other environmental problems, such as smog, acid rain, and ozone, were reduced at far less cost than anticipated. The costs of inaction, the president said, “are even higher that the costs of action.”
The White House will host a climate change and public health summit later this spring that will bring together public health, medical, and other health professionals, academics, and interested stakeholders to discuss climate change and health. 1 2 3
US Global Change Research Program. USGCRP climate and health assessment: draft for public comment. 7 Apr 2015. www.globalchange.gov/health-assessment. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adaptation in action. 15 Mar 2015. www. cdc.gov/climateandhealth/pubs/adaptation-in-action.pdf. Data.gov. Climate—human health data catalog. https://catalog.data.gov/dataset?vocab_ category_all=Human+Health&groups=climate5434.
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h1947 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS Obama warns of climate change threat to public health Michael McCarthy Seattle
Climate change poses a threat to the health of all Americans, President Barack Obama said on 7 April, citing the dangers posed by deteriorating air quality associated with higher temperatures, more extreme weather, and the spread of insect-borne diseases that previously have been confined to nations further south. “All of our families are going to be vulnerable. You can’t cordon yourself off from air or from the climate,” the president said.
Obama made his comments as his administration announced a series of actions to tackle the effects on health of climate change, including the release of a draft Climate and Health Assessment report prepared by the US Global Change Research Program1; a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that highlights action taken by local health agencies to reduce the health impacts of climate change2; and 150 health related datasets from the government’s Climate Data Initiative that researchers and communities will be able to access for information on air and water quality, infectious disease outbreaks, and morbidity and mortality trends.3 The administration also announced several public-private collaborations targeting the effects of climate change on health, including projects with Google and Microsoft. Google, for example, will provide climate related data on its Google Earth Engine geospatial analysis platform, which will allow researchers, health officials, and clinicians to track health threats,
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
such as those from emerging infectious diseases and air pollution, and to create publicly available, dynamically updating disease risk maps. Microsoft is prototyping an autonomous, drone deployed device that can collect mosquitoes and gene sequence pathogens, to serve as a potential early warning system of vectorborne diseases. In his comments Obama downplayed concern that climate change would prove too costly to tackle, noting that other environmental problems, such as smog, acid rain, and ozone, were reduced at far less cost than anticipated. The costs of inaction, the president said, “are even higher that the costs of action.”
The White House will host a climate change and public health summit later this spring that will bring together public health, medical, and other health professionals, academics, and interested stakeholders to discuss climate change and health. 1 2 3
US Global Change Research Program. USGCRP climate and health assessment: draft for public comment. 7 Apr 2015. www.globalchange.gov/health-assessment. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adaptation in action. 15 Mar 2015. www. cdc.gov/climateandhealth/pubs/adaptation-in-action.pdf. Data.gov. Climate—human health data catalog. https://catalog.data.gov/dataset?vocab_ category_all=Human+Health&groups=climate5434.
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h1947 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
