The Center for Disease Control and Prevention gave congressional testimony yesterday regarding the impact of climate change on health. Unfortunately, the original testimony met a White House buzzsaw that saw much of the specifics taken out.
CNN reports that the initial 14 page briefing document was reduced to four pages by the White House Office of Management and Budget. Among the deletions were the number of people that would be adversely affected by increased warming, and some of the scientific basis on what kinds of diseases would flourish and spread due to a warmer climate and rising sea level.
Despite the political heavy hand, the testimony provided a clear link between climate change and public health. Among the health risks are, “fatalities from heat stress and heart failure, increased injuries and deaths from severe weather such as hurricanes, more respiratory problems from drought-driven air pollution, an increase in waterborne diseases including cholera, and increases in vector-borne diseases including malaria and hantavirus.
