Friday
Mar132009
It’s Not Just The Heat, It’s The Carbon
Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News
Rep. Steve Kagan, MD (D-Wis.) hosted a conference of immunologists, and their first order of business was to tell reporters that climate change is and has been harming human health.
Paul Epstein, MD, MPH, Center for Health & the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, said that asthma rates have quadrupled since 1980. Much of this is due to CO2. The greenhouse gas stimulates plants, including weeds, to grow more prolifically, and through longer seasons. Not only does this mean more pollen, but the pollen itself is more allergenic. In fact, he said, poison ivy is becoming stronger as well, leading to more severe reactions.
Biofuels aren’t helping; diesel particles in the air act as carriers for pollen and other allergens.
The ozone produced by combustion engines, while it might be helpful in the upper atmosphere, irritates the lungs.
Finally, the geographic range of allergenic weeds is expanding.
CO2 means, more and nastier pollen, for longer periods, in more places, he concluded.
He then addressed malaria, which is seen higher and higher up the mountains of endemic areas, more subtly in more geographic areas over time, and, less subtly, for longer seasons each year. Malaria is following the warm climate farther and farther from the equator.
Other ills following this pattern include Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever. In fact, a great many of the diseases you never want to have are spreading their range, he said.
Jeffrey Demain, MD, FAAAAI, Allergy & Immunology Center of Alaska, said insects also are more numerous for longer seasons, leading to more bites, stings, infections, and even deaths.
“We have 12 villages that are imperiled; they’re falling into the sea.” Permafrost roads are only passable for half as many days a year as formerly, limiting opportunities for subsistence hunters.
“The question,” he said, “is whether Alaska is an aberration, or a window (to the future).”
David Peden, MD, FAAAAI, Center for Environmental Medicine Asthma & Lung Biology, said that ozone and pollution don’t just irritate the lungs, but leave them more irritable to all allergens for days after exposure. The number of respiratory emergency department visits dropped sharply when traffic patterns in Atlanta were altered to accommodate Olympic athletes in 1996.
Dr. Kagen said, “there can be no doubt that climate change is taking place at a more rapid rate than anyone had expected.” He presented supporting data at the conference.
All four of the physicians agreed that carbon emissions were doing unequivocal harm to human health.
Rep. Steve Kagan, MD (D-Wis.) hosted a conference of immunologists, and their first order of business was to tell reporters that climate change is and has been harming human health.
Paul Epstein, MD, MPH, Center for Health & the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, said that asthma rates have quadrupled since 1980. Much of this is due to CO2. The greenhouse gas stimulates plants, including weeds, to grow more prolifically, and through longer seasons. Not only does this mean more pollen, but the pollen itself is more allergenic. In fact, he said, poison ivy is becoming stronger as well, leading to more severe reactions.
Biofuels aren’t helping; diesel particles in the air act as carriers for pollen and other allergens.
The ozone produced by combustion engines, while it might be helpful in the upper atmosphere, irritates the lungs.
Finally, the geographic range of allergenic weeds is expanding.
CO2 means, more and nastier pollen, for longer periods, in more places, he concluded.
He then addressed malaria, which is seen higher and higher up the mountains of endemic areas, more subtly in more geographic areas over time, and, less subtly, for longer seasons each year. Malaria is following the warm climate farther and farther from the equator.
Other ills following this pattern include Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever. In fact, a great many of the diseases you never want to have are spreading their range, he said.
Jeffrey Demain, MD, FAAAAI, Allergy & Immunology Center of Alaska, said insects also are more numerous for longer seasons, leading to more bites, stings, infections, and even deaths.
“We have 12 villages that are imperiled; they’re falling into the sea.” Permafrost roads are only passable for half as many days a year as formerly, limiting opportunities for subsistence hunters.
“The question,” he said, “is whether Alaska is an aberration, or a window (to the future).”
David Peden, MD, FAAAAI, Center for Environmental Medicine Asthma & Lung Biology, said that ozone and pollution don’t just irritate the lungs, but leave them more irritable to all allergens for days after exposure. The number of respiratory emergency department visits dropped sharply when traffic patterns in Atlanta were altered to accommodate Olympic athletes in 1996.
Dr. Kagen said, “there can be no doubt that climate change is taking place at a more rapid rate than anyone had expected.” He presented supporting data at the conference.
All four of the physicians agreed that carbon emissions were doing unequivocal harm to human health.
tagged 
Coffee Brown, David Peden, Environmental Medicine, Jeffrey Demain, Paul Epstein, Pollen, Steve Kagan, University of New Mexico, carbon emissions, climate change, dengue fever, environmental immunology, human health, immunologists, insect bites, malaria, stings, talk radio news, yellow fever in News/Commentary
Coffee Brown, David Peden, Environmental Medicine, Jeffrey Demain, Paul Epstein, Pollen, Steve Kagan, University of New Mexico, carbon emissions, climate change, dengue fever, environmental immunology, human health, immunologists, insect bites, malaria, stings, talk radio news, yellow fever in News/Commentary
Got Dengue Fever? Blame Climate Change
As if melting glaciers, higher sea levels and unpredictable weather weren't enough, because of global warming, the human race faces the potential spread of infectious diseases. A panel of climate experts on Monday discussed the possibility of this occurring in North America.
“Climate change will likely alter the current distribution of vectors and/or pathogens,” said Mary Hayden, a scientist with Centers for Disease Control. “Two major climate factors that promote the reproduction of infectious mosquitos are precipitation and temperature.”
Hayden predicts that by 2050, Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, will likely migrate from areas in Mexico to U.S. cities along the Eastern seaboard. Additionally, outbreaks of Dengue fever have already been reported in Key West, Florida.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing that Dengue Fever is increasing in number and severity. In Mexico alone, since 2005, there has been a 600 percent increase in cases, with no known vaccine,” said Hayden.
The panel used years of data that shows correlations between increased rainfall accumulations in Africa and the reproduction of water-thriving mosquitoes, with the spread of diseases including Dengue Fever, Malaria, Cholera and Hantavirus.
According to the World Health Organization's website: “Change in world climate would influence the functioning of many ecosystems and their member species. Likewise, there would be impacts on human health. Some of these health impacts would be beneficial. For example, milder winters would reduce the seasonal winter-time peak in deaths that occurs in temperate countries, while in currently hot regions a further increase in temperatures might reduce the viability of disease-transmitting mosquito populations. Overall, however, scientists consider that most of the health impacts of climate change would be adverse.”
The panel on Monday urged Congress to develop a comprehensive disease control and monitoring system that will help combat the onset of diseases that have increased in recent years.
“I believe Congress should be focused on our ability to monitor and track diseases generally, but particularly with diseases related to climate change,” said panelist Lynn Goldman, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Right now we are doing a good job, but certainly monitoring can be very much improved.”