As asthma heightens their susceptibility, they are more vulnerable to other climate-related exposures, such as living in hotter areas of a city called urban heat islands. For example, individuals who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) can be more likely to suffer from asthma due to higher air pollution exposure by living closer to power plants and highways. Three key aspects of vulnerability are susceptibility, exposure, and the ability to adapt. Climate change and air pollution are also interconnected, as they have the same root cause: the burning of fossil fuels. Renee Salas: The simple truth is that we cannot tackle health disparities stemming from structural racism without action on climate change, as we recently outlined in the 2020 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Brief for the United States. Build resilient and equitable health systems, and everyone will fare better in the face of a historic storm. As many of them pointed out, efforts to counter climate change are often “benefit multipliers”: Reduce carbon emissions and air pollution, and you’ll reduce the burden of asthma and heart disease. Their efforts-whether it’s analyzing the intersection of racial justice and CO2 emissions or creating models to determine where renewable energy will have the greatest public health impact-are changing how we think about climate change and how we respond to it. Chan School of Public Health are working collectively to meet the challenge of climate change. The pages that follow highlight some of the many ways in which scientists from across departments and research centers at the Harvard T.H. Air pollution from wildfires, which are increasing in frequency and intensity, strains the lungs of already vulnerable populations around the world, from San Francisco to Sri Lanka. Heat-related deaths have soared globally in the last two decades. Intense weather events disrupt access to health care and can result in acute and long-term health threats. But now, we’re seeing in real time how these converging crises undercut public health and threaten the lives of millions of people. For years, rising carbon dioxide emissions, melting ice caps, and warming oceans have largely been framed as an environmental problem. The world is waking up to the totality of climate change.
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