M e d i c a l R e c o r d F e at u r e
An Urgent Issue:
Climate Change and the Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania by Susan Robbins, MD, MPH, Poune Saberi, MD, MPH, and Tonyehn Verkitus
P
hysicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania (PSR PA) is a non-profit organization through which a variety of health professionals in the state address “the greatest threats to public health” and advance the greatest public health opportunities of our century. Its mission is to “promote socially and environmentally responsible practices, policies and programs to safeguard and improve public health” with particular concentration on climate change and environmental health issues along with efforts to prevent violence and ban nuclear weapon proliferation (with the last item being a founding objective of the national PSR organization). As the World Health Organization in 2021 described climate change as the “single biggest health threat facing humanity” while it called for organizations to “act with urgency,” it is certainly appropriate that PSR PA considers addressing climate change to be one of its highest priorities. Climate change is of great concern throughout our state, our country and the world because of the magnitude and rapid rate of the change that is occurring. Human activity has led to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and deforestation, considered two of the primary causes of climate change, with much of the greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. being due to the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transportation. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Earth’s rise in surface temperature is leading to a decrease in sea ice and land ice (glaciers), an increase in permafrost thawing, an increase in heat waves along with heavy precipitation in many areas, and decreased water resources in semi-arid regions. Each of these changes is having devastating effects around the globe. In the northeast of the United States, the number of heavy precipitation events have increased by more than 70% since the 1950s and the climate stands to get hotter and wetter in the next decades. Why is climate change a threat to health? Some of the threats include the following: • Warmer climates are causing increases in water-borne, food-borne, and vector-borne diseases including Zika and Lyme disease, which is now being reported in every Pennsylvania county • Air pollution, especially from the burning of fossil fuels, is multiplied in a warming climate and adversely affects those with asthma and other respiratory ailments and is even associated with increased death rates • Increasing numbers of floods, storms and heat waves are causing injuries, accidents and death to thousands • Rising sea levels are destroying homes, communities and places of employment • Drought and flooding are affecting food production and access, leading to more incidences of food insecurity and hunger • Longer periods of warm weather are leading to longer pollen seasons (particularly affecting those with allergy-related disorders), and more smog and mold issues
18 | www.berkscms.org
