Protecting Human Health in a Changing Climate

Therese Smith is being honored as a Champion of Change for her work on the front lines to protect public health in a changing climate.

Climate change and public health go hand in hand. Illustrating this point, in Healthy People 2020 the Department of Health and Human Services outlines its objective to promote health for everyone through a healthy environment.  To do that, we must focus on six different areas including outdoor air quality, our homes and communities, ground water, toxic substances and hazardous wastes in our air, water and land, and our entire global environment.

My job as a public health professional is to try and make a difference one person at a time, one place at a time, if at all possible, by educating, volunteering, and letting people know that clean air is everyone’s responsibility—we all need to breathe it! 

The American Lung Association of the Midland States has given me a platform to educate more people about the link between air quality and chronic conditions, such as lung disease, diabetes, and heart disease.  As an advocate in various clean air campaigns, I continue to make sure that everyone everywhere gets the chance to breathe the cleanest air possible, both indoors and out. 

I work in my community and across the state of Michigan through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as a Health Advocate and Chronic Condition Case Manager to educate members about lung disease and the importance of a healthy environment.  I educate members with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other respiratory illnesses that are affected by poor air quality.I make sure they understand how they can make small changes to protect their health on ozone action days, when weather conditions make it likely that ground-level ozone will approach unhealthy levels and are cautious about air pollutants  to help improve their quality of life and hopefully their environment too. 

I am currently working on my PhD in Public Policy and Administration with a focus on Health Policy to make a difference in changing the course of health policy – to make a difference in the world – so we can all breathe cleaner air. 

Therese Smith is a Nurse.

Protecting Health in a Changing Climate

Dr. Linda Rudolph is being honored as a Champion of Change for her work on the front lines to protect public health in a changing climate.

In 2004, I was the local health officer and public health director in Berkeley, California. We worked to improve children’s health by making it easier for kids to walk or bike to school, promoting better access to healthy foods through community gardens and local farmers markets, and reducing exposures to chemicals and pollutants that trigger asthma. Do you see the connections to climate change? I didn’t, at first.

But as California began tackling climate change, two things quickly became apparent to me. First, the impacts of climate change exacerbate many of our most serious health problems – the very chronic diseases I was seeing in all of the communities I served, and which were (and continue to be) especially prevalent in low income communities with limited resources for health care. Second, many of the strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen community resilience in the face of climate change are the very same strategies that help us to reduce obesity and chronic illness.

I now believe that climate change itself is the greatest health threat we face in the 21st century. I focus on climate change in my professional work, because if we don’t act urgently and comprehensively, climate change will undermine all our other public health efforts.  I’ve also started advocating for climate action as a private citizen, in my personal time, because to truly move the needle (or thermometer) on climate change, we must also engage the passion, activism and voice of every American.

People everywhere care about their health and about the health and well-being of their children and grandchildren. But health workers have a critically important role to play in addressing climate change.  We can connect the dots: warmer temperatures can mean higher ozone levels, longer pollen seasons, and more asthma and allergies. More droughts can mean higher food prices, greater food insecurity, and more obesity and diabetes.

Public health professionals can engage with community partners to identify assets and solutions that build community resilience and fight climate change at the same time. For example, parks and tree canopies soak up carbon and other pollutants, create safe places for kids to play and provide shade to help prevent heat illness. A healthy community design offers transportation options that increase physical activity, decrease air pollution and preserve nearby farmlands and open space.

We can find win-win solutions that fight carbon pollution and climate change, reduce health inequities, and improve the health of everyone in our communities, but it will take a different kind of public health work. It will require that we collaborate closely with those who work in transportation, housing, agriculture, and many other sectors, and that we engage deeply with people in the most vulnerable communities. All of us need to let our policy makers and leaders know that we need to act vigorously on climate change right now, to protect the health of our children, ourselves, our neighbors, and our communities.

My work has shown me that climate action can make our communities more vibrant, attractive and livable. It can make our food systems more diverse and sustainable, our air and water cleaner, and our communities greener and more walkable, all of which will have huge health benefits. In California, we’ve already begun to accomplish some of this, thanks to state climate change legislation championed across party lines and supported and strengthened by the involvement of public health professionals, community advocates and organizations, and residents of communities throughout the state. As a nation, we must do the same – work together to take climate change action that benefits our health now, and protects our health into the future.

Dr. Linda Rudolph is the Co-Director of Climate Change and Public Health Project at Public Health Institute.

Threat of Climate Change to Human Health

Susan Pachero is being honored as a Champion of Change for her work on the front lines to protect public health in a changing climate.

As a pediatrician, I thought I’d never find anything as fulfilling and joyful as taking care of children.  I am now overcome by an overwhelming sense of responsibility to protect and inform my patients and their families about the real effects of climate change on their health.

In 2006, I took my children to watch the documentary An Inconvenient Truth as part of their school homework. I remember my hesitance. I was obviously aware of climate change, but it had always seemed distant. The soundtrack from Melissa Etheridge’s song “I Need to Wake up" still runs through my mind. So does the closing message: “Write to Congress, and if they do not listen, run for Congress.” I remember my children’s passionate response, and it still brings a smile to my heart.

I started as a volunteer for the Climate Reality Project, later became a Climate Reality mentor and then a district manager for the organization’s efforts in Puerto Rico. I led volunteers to share the climate story with anybody willing to listen.

I remember a few close friends, patients, and colleagues sharing their concern of “losing me to this climate thing.” I disagreed. As a physician, I am committed to the art of healing. I have to approach anything and everything that may affect my patient’s mental or physical well-being. The reality is that climate change will affect generations to come.  I have the responsibility to share knowledge on the challenges we face as a society-- particularly when there is a chance for harm to the health and security of vulnerable people.

I give talks as a Climate Leader with the Climate Reality Project to help fill the knowledge gap on climate change. I have geared my efforts not only to engage the general public, but also to target individuals and groups involved in health care. As health care providers, we are trusted advocates and messengers. I have found that even in the Texas Medical Center, among the largest in the world, knowledge regarding the health dangers related to a changing climate is limited.

I work as a representative for the Puerto Rico Climate Change Council, working with Puerto Rico’s Enlace Latino de Accion Climática, sponsored by El Puente Community Group for Peace and Justice, and  I participated as a representative and author for Puerto Rico’s “National Climate Assessment - Southeast Region-Health Sector Report (2012).” I currently work with the American Academy of Pediatrics and am a co-author of a position statement on the need to acknowledge the harmful effects climate change has on American children.  Additionally, I lead an effort with the American Lung Association Plains-Gulf Region in Houston to release a statement regarding the changing climate in our state and the need to “fight for the air.” In consultation with Dr. Ronald A. Sass from the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, I am forming a coalition of individuals with diverse backgrounds, among them health care, , faith groups, student organizations, academics, scientific fields, and local community representatives, who openly acknowledge the need to engage our communities in open discussions that will facilitate the implementation of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies for the state of Texas. 

As a physician, my role in promoting health extends beyond my interaction with patients in the office. I have the responsibility to help restore balance in the lives of my patients and try to make a difference for all Americans. I cannot do anything less for our planet. 

Susan Pachero is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center.