Reviewed July 27, 2023
On Monday, November 4
th, 2019 the United States government officially notified the United Nations that it will withdraw from the
Paris Agreement on climate change. The goal of the Paris Agreement was to unite countries all over the world to implement changes to keep the rise of global temperatures below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and ultimately limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Participating countries would be required to make financial commitments to new technologies and to regularly report on their progress in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (United Nations, 2019).
How Global Warming Impacts Our Health
There’s no doubt, climate change is a polarizing topic. While many refute the scientific evidence behind this serious public health challenge, the signs are everywhere. As health care providers, we witness firsthand the harmful effects that climate change can have on our patients – from exacerbated lung conditions due to poor air quality, increases in mosquito and tick-borne illnesses, extreme heat, storms and floods, wildfires and droughts causing displacement and deaths and threats to our food and water sources – all of which significantly impact both mental and physical health. The effects of climate change are most detrimental to susceptible populations including children and pregnant women, people with low income, the elderly, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, certain minority groups, immigrants, and outdoor workers (Center for Climate Change & Health, 2019).
Let’s take a closer look at how global warming impacts our health. The table below summarizes the major climate change issues and the effects each can have on our overall wellbeing (Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility, 2019).
The Effects of Global Warming on Health |
Issue |
Impact |
AIR QUALITY |
Increased pollution and GHG emissions |
- Escalation of allergens and a lengthened allergy season increase allergy-related illnesses
- Aggravates cardiovascular illnesses
- Aggravates lung diseases (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
|
EXTREME WEATHER |
Intense Wildfires |
- Rise in hospital and emergency room visits for asthma patients, smoke inhalation and burn injuries
- Infrastructure damage and property loss that can lead to stress and other mental health issues
|
Excessive precipitation, flooding and storms
|
- Water contamination causing waterborne illnesses such as cholera, cryptosporidiosis, campylobacter, leptospirosis and giardia
- Water and food supply disruptions causing malnutrition and foodborne illnesses such as Salmonellosis and diarrhea
- Infrastructure damage and property loss that can lead to stress and other mental health issues
|
RISING TEMPERATURES |
Rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves |
- Dehydration
- Heat stroke affecting the most vulnerable (poor, elderly and children)
- Aggravates cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses
|
VECTOR-BORNE DISEASE |
Combination of flooding/storms (standing water), longer duration of warm seasons (high temperatures) |
- Changes in vector (mosquitos and ticks) habitats and behaviors causing diseases such as Lyme Disease, Malaria, Zika Virus and West Nile Virus to spread
|
Nurses As Leaders in Protecting Our Environment
While we work hard to care for our patients who are severely impacted by these environmental issues, our industry is also part of the problem. Hospitals are one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions and global warming (Cook et al., 2019). Nurses have a unique opportunity to influence decisions made within health care organizations and to advocate for changes that will help protect the environment. However, many clinicians have reported a lack of knowledge regarding the effects of climate change on health (Cook et al., 2019). Organizations such as the
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), a national group that focuses on environmental factors that impact human health, is working to increase awareness and provide education to nurses. The ANHE launched three initiatives this year:
- Nurses Climate Challenge, in collaboration with Health Care Without Harm, is a program to motivate nurses to learn and teach about climate change and health.
- Climate, Health, and Nursing Tool (CHANT), a survey to measure perceptions, motivations, awareness of and engagement with climate change as a health issue.
- Work-Home-Adaptation-Mitigation (WHAM) Grid which describes actions that nurses can take at work and home to combat climate change.
In addition, to help nurses get started, the ANHE developed
Getting Started: A Guide For Nurses that provides nurses with strategies to decrease their impact on the environment and motivate others to change. Recommendations to help nurses become leaders and climate advocates (ANHE, 2019) include:
- Educate yourself on the impact of climate on health and what solutions are available.
- Attend training programs, conferences, and webinars on climate change.
- Teach your patients about climate change and the effects it can have on their health.
- Focus on susceptible populations such as the elderly and children.
- Encourage patients to have disaster preparedness plans in place at home.
- Associate climate change to health.
- Understand how climate change influences health.
- What symptoms are aggravated by changes in the environment?
- Use your voice within your professional community.
- Ask nurses and other colleagues to join your efforts in advocacy.
- Promote best practices that benefit the environment and share success stories.
- Take on a leadership role in your organization by encouraging decreased energy use and avoiding the use of fossil fuels.
- Discuss with your leadership team ways in which your organization can decrease their GHG emissions (Cook et al., 2019):
- Implement more efficient operations to conserve energy through automatic heating and cooling processes.
- Use cleaner, safer, renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and low-impact hydropower.
- Choose less toxic chemicals and cleaning products.
- Purchase food that is grown locally, produced using fewer toxic chemicals, and with the least amount of packaging.
- Regulate waste products, particularly hazardous materials, pharmaceutical, narcotic, and infectious waste.
- Recycle, recycle, recycle!
- Be proactive within your home community
- Collaborate with local leaders, businesses, and elected officials to make climate change a priority initiative.
- Incorporate climate and health in neighborhood, town, and state programs.
- Nationally
- Share information on social media.
- Join climate events.
- Advocate for global change by writing letters to government officials.
Changing Habits at Home to Positively Impact Climate Change
What can you do at home? Small changes in the way we live our daily lives can have a positive impact on the environment. Collectively, we can make a difference. A few simple strategies include (ANHE, 2019):
- Use energy efficiently, and if possible, use renewable energy.
- Turn off lights in vacant rooms.
- Use natural lighting.
- Change light bulbs to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs.
- Unplug appliances and electronics when not used.
- Set thermostat to 65 degrees in winter and 78 degrees in summer.
- Utilize alternative modes of transportation – carpool, bike, walk or use public transportation.
- Adopt environmentally-friendly products; purchase climate friendly paper and cleaning supplies.
- Recycle and reduce waste.
- Support a sustainable food system by decreasing meat consumption and purchasing local organic food.
The economic burden to reduce our carbon footprint should not supersede our duty to protect our planet for future generations to come.
What are you doing to help the environment? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
References:
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (2019). Getting Started with Climate Solutions: A Guide for Nurses. Retrieved from https://envirn.org/getting-started-a-guide-for-nurses/
Center for Climate Change & Health (2019). U.S. Call to Action On Climate, Health, and Equity: A Policy Action Agenda. Retrieved from http://climatehealthconnect.org/resources/climate-change-health-and-equity-a-guide-for-local-health-departments/
Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility (2019). Climate Change and Human Health: An Interprofessional Response – A University of Minnesota Academic Health Center Collaboration. Retrieved from https://globalhealthcenter.umn.edu/education/climatehealth
Cook, C., Demorest, S.L. & Schenk, E. (2019). Nurses and Climate Action: Opportunities to lead national efforts. American Journal of Nursing. 119(4), 54-60.
United Nations. (2019). What is the Paris Agreement. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/what-is-the-paris-agreement
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