President Bill Clinton says global warming has played a role in the rise of Malaria globally.
“There is no question that Malaria is occurring at higher and higher altitudes in places it didn’t before because mosquitos are going to places they didn’t feel comfortable before,” said Clinton. (0:12)
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.
President Bush wants the United States to be a key player in the future of disease prevention and treatment across the world. The United States can begin in developing nations by fighting diseases like malaria, HIV/ AIDS, hookworm, and river blindness, Bush says. The challenge for future presidents and congresses is to keep the commitment for fighting disease and global hunger. (2:00)
TRNS Ellen Ratner interviews Pragati Pascal of the United Nations about the Millennium Development Goals and the progress that has been made in the first eight years of the new millennium. (5:53)
