PHAN ConferenceSeptember 22, 2015

Potential Health Impacts Of Climate Change

Scott E. Holmes, MS, REHSManager, Environmental Public Health

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Departmentsholmes@lincoln.ne.gov

402-441-8019

Photograph by John McColgan in the Bitterroot National Forest

Photo by John McColgan, Selway Bitteroot National Forest

A NASA satellite photo July 9, 2014 shows the smoke from the Northwest Territories Impacting the Midwest

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS IN THE UNITED STATES Chapter 9 Human Health - Key Messages

1. Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, threats to mental health, and illnesses transmitted by food, water, and disease-carriers such as mosquitoes and ticks. Some of these health impacts are already underway in the U.S.

2. Climate change will, absent other changes, amplify some of the existing health threats the nation now faces. Certain people and communities are especially vulnerable, including children, the elderly, the sick, the poor, and some communities of color.

3. Public health actions, especially preparedness and prevention, can do

much to protect people from some of the impacts of climate change. Early action provides the largest health benefits. As threats increase, our ability to adapt to future changes may be limited.

4. Responding to climate change provides opportunities to improve human health and well-being across many sectors, including energy, agriculture, and transportation. Many of these strategies offer a variety of benefits, protecting people while combating climate change and providing other societal benefits.

Adapted from "A Human Health Perspective: On Climate Change" by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences © 2011 WGBH Educational Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Typical day in Lincoln, NE

Flint Hills of Kansas:Range & Prairie Management

Lincoln to Manhattan – 135 milesDue North

Smoke travel time 6 to 20 + hours

Violation Violation

Violation

Where was the Worst Air Quality in the U.S.A. on April 18, 2014?

Lincoln, NebraskaApril 18, 2014 Lincoln Journal Star

Climate Change and AllergiesHealth & Economic Impacts

• More people affected by allergies due to higher “dose” and longer exposure

• Increased sick days• Increased medical care• Increased use of

antihistamines, inhalers, etc.

• Decreased productivity

Lyme Disease - Progression

Rash

Bells’ Palsy,Severe HeadachesJoint Pain

Severe joint paintArthritic jointsNumbness, tinglingChronic pain

Projected Changes in Tick Habitat

The black legged tick (deer tick) Ixodes scapularis carries Lyme disease

which is caused by the bacteriaBorrelia burgdorferi

Brownstein et al. Ecohealth. Mar 2005; 2(1): 38–46.

ProjectedLyme diseasein the US by the year 2080.Brownstein et al. Ecohealth. Mar 2005; 2(1): 38–46

Culex tarsalis – primary vector (carrier) of West Nile Virus

Heavy Downpours Are Increasing Exposure to Disease

Nebraska Fish Consumption Advisories – 2013Primarily Due to Mercury Contamination

92 Lakes and Streams in Nebraska

Water Contamination & Impairment Nebraska – NDEQ website 2014