Climate Change Matters to our Health

Laura here:

Rosemary Rochford, newcomer to Jericho, gave a very informative talk "Why Climate Change Matters to our Health” to about 25 of us at the community center in late January. Some tidbits are mentioned here; for the full video go to: https://youtu.be/iYROqlb_IPM

In the early 2000s, Rosemary was in Kenya, doing malaria research. There she studied anopheles, a
climate sensitive mosquito. Thus began her fascination with climate driven infectious diseases.
Ultimately in 2015, she became co-director of the Colorado Consortium on Climate Change and Health.

Rosemary talked about ice core labs for studying climate change. In locations such as the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers drill down about two miles deep for ice cores which are then stored in tubes. Going back as far as 800,000 years, the cores enable scientists to study gases trapped in the ice. Co2 can be measured to study trends over time. For example, in the 1860s levels started to rise with the industrial age. From a previous 360 ppm average, it reached 417 ppm as of 2022. Rosemary touched on the Paris Climate Accords; how a goal of keeping temperature increase to 1.5 degrees has been shattered, and that 2024 was the hottest year on record.

When studying climate change effects on health, Rosemary said that heat index is actually a more important measurement than temperature, as it takes in the humidity factor as well. She mentioned numerous effects on the body, including core temperature rise, nervous system instability, dehydration, and blood vessel inflammation. She added that outdoor workers may take a heavier toll as 'wet bulb globe temperature' comes into play; how being exposed to sunlight adds heat stress to the body. She talked about Vermont specifically, how it's getting getting hotter and wetter here. Vermont averages six more inches of precipitation per year than in the 1960s.

These days Vermonters are also effected by wildfires from Canada. Rosemary talked about the danger of fine particulates; smaller than sand, they are in the air from fires and can get into the lungs and even the bloodstream, causing undue damage.

Rosemary spoke of the effects of climate change on food. She said that while most greenhouse gases are caused by burning fossil fuels, roughly a quarter are caused by food production; transportation, cows, and land use, etc. She talked about a so-called planetary heath diet, quoting the EAT Lancet Commission: "food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability on earth." She went on to recommend a "plant forward diet" which minimizes meat in the diet and prioritizes plant based food.

*Many thanks to the folks at MMCTV for videotaping this presentation!