你会和气候学家谈论医疗保健问题吗? 最近的研究表明,公共健康和天气, 更具体地说, 气候变化, 比你想象的更有联系. 事实上,是2010年 对3200万美国人的研究.S. Environ International的《十大靠谱网赌官方平台》 声明在58人中,加州有681个单胎, a 10 °F increase in weekly average temperature before delivery was associated with an 8.早产风险增加6%. 对于黑人母亲来说,这一风险几乎翻了一番,达到15%.
While you may not realize it, 气候变化 is quickly becoming a public health issue. It’s time for health care professionals and patients to take note.
Tevin Wooten, a meteorologist for NBC Boston and former meteorologist for the Weather Channel, recently sat down with 十大靠谱网赌官方平台’s Robyn Ledbetter on 十大靠谱网赌官方平台 to discuss the 气候变化与人口健康之间的联系.
认为区域.
在最基本的层面上, when you think about the connection between public health and 气候变化, 你必须从区域角度考虑问题. In Massachusetts, where Tevin works now, the community often experiences intense winter storms. They have learned to prepare for these winter storms and find ways to adapt to freezing temperatures. 在阿肯色州, where Tevin spent the majority of his formative and college years, 你可能每隔五年左右就会经历一次大规模的暴风雪.
南方各州在2021年经历了一场大规模的寒潮, 像德克萨斯, which just 有经验的 a record low temperature of -2 °F in February 2021, do not have the infrastructures or response measures in place to respond to severe cold fronts,特文说。. 热浪也是如此. Many of us here in Arkansas recall the constant heat warning reminders that went off on our phones when the heat index reached well over 100 in some parts of the state.
事实上,前所未有的热浪变得如此严重,以至于 阿肯色州卫生部发布了警告 encouraging people to practice heat safety to mitigate heat stress and other heat-related illnesses. 这还不是美国最热的指数.S. 有经验的.
Nurses and providers are responding to climate-fueled disasters they may not have had to respond to before. Tevin recalls a conversation with a nurse he spoke with who has treated more patients with asthma than she ever has before: “This nurse said, “当我30年前开始工作的时候, 我的病人中约有7%接受了哮喘治疗. 现在,这个数字已经上升到近25%.’” That significant increase in asthmatic patients can be traced back to an increase in air pollution over the last 30 years.
And as scientists have warned about the increasing threshold of danger from global warming, first responders and health professionals are bound to see other health issues stemming from 气候变化.
不断变化的天气模式也影响到病媒传播的疾病.
Tevin also warned about how 气候变化 affects vector-borne illnesses in the United States. “Warmer air holds more moisture, which leads to flooding at abnormal periods of the year. With floods come a migration of mosquitos that carry several viruses with them, 包括疟疾和寨卡病毒."
在自然状态下, 直到天气稍微凉爽一点, 我们在树林里散步时必须注意蜱虫. Tickborne疾病,包括 莱姆病,在美国各地呈上升趋势.S.
Tevin also explains how shifting migratory patterns of deer and other game common in the South are also increasing our risk of vector-borne illnesses. “携带疾病的昆虫不定期地出现在动物周围. 当它们蜇我们吃的动物时, 尤其是在狩猎季节, those animals are carriers of the diseases that insects give to them,他说. “我们吃的时候就吃那些动物, we are putting ourselves at greater risk for catching those diseases.”
Why are we just now noticing this connection between public health and 气候变化?
Research and discussion among the scientific and medical communities regarding the connection of these two topics has actually been occurring for over a decade. “因为公众在室内的时间更长了, 特别是在大流行期间, we’ve been forced to be in front of our cellphones and televisions due to quarantine,特文说。. “现在,我们正在实时听到更多关于这些联系的信息. People are beginning to ask more questions because of what we 有经验的 during the pandemic.”
随着越来越多的人意识到这种联系, it has become increasingly clear that each and every individual must be aware of this connection and take steps to improve our climate in order to improve public health. 给前线的医护人员, it’s important that we take these factors into account with other social determinants of health and learn to ask patients the right questions during their visits.
广泛的变化始于政策层面.
“I am seeing some changes in federal policy to address 气候变化,特文说。. “We’re leaning more on science and on the medical professionals who deal with these correlations every day.”
拜登总统最近宣布了一项名为 美国气候队 训练一组20人,000 young Americans in high-demand skills for jobs that conserve the environment. This initiative is a huge step toward reducing the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions and finding other resources to use for energy.
在全球范围内,196个缔约方通过了2016年公约 巴黎协定, which aims to “increase the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” as well as to “limit the temperature increase to 1.比工业化前水平高5°C.” To reach this goal, global greenhouse gas emissions must decline by 43% by 2030. “我们必须相对迅速地做出改变,”特文说. “That’s why we’re having to implement changes at the policy level.”
气候变化影响公众健康. As we learn more about the way that our environment shapes the health outcomes of our patients, it is important that we each individually take steps to be more environmentally conscious. 解决方案是多方面的. 对于气候变化,没有放之四海而皆准的答案. 然而, if we continue to raise awareness and follow the lead of our national and global leaders to mitigate harmful actions to our planet, we will make the planet a better place to live while also increasing the health of over 8 billion people who live here.
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