Climate change is one of the biggest threats to American health
Dr. Jonathan Fielding discusses climate change-induced threats to public health and required actions to mitigate and reverse trending health impacts.
Imagine you are on a bike descending a long, steep hill when your brakes fail. As you gather more speed, you face a life-extinguishing event at the bottom unless the brakes start working again. This is an apt analogy for the greatest challenge to human existence on our small planet. As the monumental and varied environmental effects of climate change become undeniably apparent, our brakes are beginning to fail.
Climate change is among the topics 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls will address during future presidential debates. It should be. While the current administration’s efforts to leave the United Nations climate agreement have further politicized this issue, it is more than mere fodder for partisan politics.
Simply put, climate change is an existential threat to our health and continued life on the planet.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
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