Climate change has impact on public health

By Peter Thorne

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This week, a committee of experts from Iowa's Regents universities submitted its report on the impacts of climate change in Iowa to the governor and Legislature. It lays out policy recommendations that will help Iowans adapt to a warmer, wetter and more extreme climate.

Global temperature and precipitation data measured around the world since 1600 A.D. provide clear evidence that the temperature is rising and that the pace of this increase has accelerated in the last 30 years. A warmer world means higher humidity levels owing to the greater water-holding capacity of warmer air. The global hydrological cycle has been altered, with declines of sea ice, permafrost and glacial ice in the northern hemisphere.

Data from Iowa collected over the last 114 years shows more frost-free days, higher annual rainfalls and more days each year with extreme rainfall. Plants are flowering sooner and expanding their northern range.

Climate changes have implications on our health. The public health community must prepare for disasters while working to mitigate them, to apply research toward improving preparedness and response, and to minimize suffering.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center has compiled data on all natural disasters since 1980 that resulted in losses greater than $1 billion. Adjusting for inflation, there were a dozen $1 billion disasters in the 1980s, 38 in the 1990s, and 46 from 2000 to 2009. Of these, 39 percent involved flooding, including Hurricane Katrina.

When victims of floods try to salvage possessions and clean up their homes, they are often afflicted with mold allergies, asthma and toxic alveolitis. These conditions were commonly observed in victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Iowa Flood of 2008 and left thousands feeling ill for months. In addition, the higher humidity levels led to more dust mites and mold problems in homes.

As the climate changes and as the global population increases, policy makers and public health practitioners need to develop adaptation strategies and advocate for better land-use planning to reduce the potential for human harm.

The climatic disasters of Hurricane Katrina and the Iowa flood of 2008 have had clear implications for public health. Iowans must continue to work toward minimizing the health impacts of extreme weather in a changing climate.

Professor Peter Thorne is head of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa, and director of the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center. Comments: peter-thorne@uiowa.edu