Hill Heat: Tag health

Climate Change: A Challenge for Public Health

The Cunctator — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:30:00 -0500

Jonathan Patz, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Environmental Studies & Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin- Madison
Kristie Ebi, Ph.D, M.P.H.., President, ESS LLC
John Balbus, M.D, M.P.H.., Chief Scientist and Program Director, Environmental Defense Fund
Ambassador John W. McDonald, Chairman and CEO, Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy

Healthy Planet, Health People: Global Warming and Public Health

The Cunctator — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:00:00 -0500

This Wednesday, April 9, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will take a look at the health of our warming planet, and how climate change affects the health of her citizens. During a week where major public health bodies are calling attention to the links between an unhealthy planet and an unhealthy people, the hearing’s panel of scientists, practicing doctors, and public health professionals will describe the various ways climate change poses a serious public health threat.

Despite the international and national scientific consensus that climate change impacts public health, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has refused to state that heat-trapping carbon dioxide is a threat to public health.

The witnesses will also address whether the United States has an unlimited capacity to adapt to this growing public health concern, or whether the only true preventative medicine is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming.

According to the World Health Organization, climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health. The WHO estimates that changes in the Earth’s climate may have caused at least five million cases of illness and more than 150,000 deaths in 2000, and predict these impacts are likely to increase in the future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that climate change contributes to the global burden of disease, premature death and other adverse health impacts due to extreme weather events, changes in infectious disease patterns, air quality, quality and quantity of water and food. Adverse health impacts of climate change also include increases in heat stress, asthma, allergies and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Howard Frumkin, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., Center for Disease Control, Director of National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Jonathan Patz, M.D., M.P.H., Professor and Director of Global Environmental Health, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Georges Benjamin, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E.P. (Emeritus), Executive Director, American Public Health Association
Mark Jacobson, Ph.D., Director, Atmosphere and Energy Program and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University
Dana Best, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., American Academy of Pediatrics

Perspectives on the next phase of the global fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria

The Cunctator — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:30:00 -0600

White House Censors CDC Climate Health Testimony

The Cunctator — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:55:00 -0500

In a story reported by Associated Press (see Washington Post, ED, WattHead, CQ), Barbara Boxer revealed that CDC director Julie Gerberding’s written testimony (uncensored version) at Tuesday’s EPW hearing on global warming impacts on health was dramatically cut by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget after questions were raised by John H. Marburger III, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Six of the deleted pages detailed how global warming might affect Americans and they included a section with the title, “Climate Change is a Public Concern.”

On Wednesday, House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Brad Miller sent a letter to Marburger formally requesting all documents related to the matter by next Monday:

We expect our government researchers and scientists to provide to both Congress and the public the full results of their taxpayer-supported work without the filter that those of opposing views might like to impose. Otherwise, we cannot have a full and free scientific debate.

Marburger released a statement today (from Andy Revkin’s NYT Dot Earth blog), claiming:

Those commentators have missed or ignored several nuanced but important differences between the I.P.C.C. report’s findings and the draft testimony.

Barbara Boxer responsed:

Dr. Marburger’s statement is a lame defense of the White House action to censor information the American people deserve to know about the dangers of global warming.

DeSmogBlog shows what was cut from the report, saying:

These were not minor edits the White House PR spin machine would like us to believe. The word-count for the CDC Director’s Senate testimony went from 3,107 to 1,500 after the White House got through with it.
Whole sections on health related effects to extreme weather, air pollution-related health effect, allergic diseases, water and food-borne infectious diseases, food and water scarcity and the long term impacts of chronic diseases and other health effects were completely wiped out of the testimony.

The human health impacts of global warming

The Cunctator — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:00:00 -0500

Contact Bettina Poirier, Democratic Staff Director at 202-224-8832

Witnesses

Julie Louise Gerberding – director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Howard Frumkin – director, National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Susan R. Cooper – commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health
Michael McCally – executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Don Roberts – professor emeritus, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Archive Webcast

Update: Geberding’s written testimony was censored by the White House; see this post for more.

Health Consequences of Global Warming

The Cunctator — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:00:00 -0500

A Conference: Health Consequences of Global Warming: Examining the Links; Breaking the Chains

Friday – Sunday September 14 – 16, 2007

Hotel Veto Conference Center 201 S. Linn St Iowa City, IA

Jointly sponsored by: The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and Physicans for Social Responsibility, in cooperation with the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, Global and Regional Environmental Research, and College of Public Health.

Introducing the Challenge: Halting Climate Change Addressing Health and Human Rights Links

Introducing Climate Change Science and Wedges, Jerry Schnoor PhD
Introducing Human Rights Issues, Burns Weston LL.B, JSD
Introducing Public Health Concerns, Jim Merchant MD PhD

7:00 PM Dinner Speaker:

Michael McCally MD PhD, Executive Director, National PSR, Challenge of Global Warming to Preserving Global Health

8:00 PM Concurrent Roundtables

Redefining Security, Catherine Thomasson MD
Introducing Student Groups’ Responses to Global Climate Change
How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. Film, Maureen McCue MD PhD
Faith Based Responses to Goobal Warming, Mark Kresowik & Lynn Heuss
Invoking the Precautionary Principle, Carolyn Raffensperger JD
UNA Process on Global Warming, Katy Hanson, Kate Karchay, Douglas Taylor PhD & Jerry Schnoor PhD

Saturday, September 15

9:00 AM Opening Keynote

Michael A. McGeehin PhD MSPH, Climate Change, Myriad Threats to Global Health: From Malaria Movement & Complex Disasters to Failing Food Production

9:45 AM Plenary Panel II

Linked Threats to Health and Environment: Current Energy Sources

Health Threats of Auto-Centered Cities, Catherine Thomasson MD
Ports, Trade & Transit: Health Threats to Workers, Neighborhoods, and the Global Climate, Andrea Hricko MPH
Nuclear Power’s Insurmountable Risks, Arjun Makhijani PhD

11:30 AM Plenary Panel III

Collateral Damage: Overlooked Health Costs of Disasters

Disasters–Loss and Mental Health–Challenge, Curt H. Drennen PsyD
Disasters–Challenges to Maintaining Research and Care, Tyler Curiel MD MPH
Unstable Climate–Challenges to Global Food/Water Security, Douglas Taylor PhD

1:15 PM Luncheon Speaker:

Michael Klare PhD, Blood and Oil–Further Dangers and Consequences of Dependency on Petroleum

2:15 PM Concurrent Roundtables

“Low Carbon Diet”– Food Production with Low Carbon Emissions, Rich Pirog
Consumption, Denial, and Fear, Fred Myer MA and Carolyn Raffensperger JD
Iowa’s Uniquely Unhealthy Energy Options (Coal, Bio-fuels, Nuclear), Mark Kresowik BA, Alana Stamas, and Michele Kenyon Brown
Healthy Sustainable Businesses–Incorporating Environmentally Friendly Practices, Peter Barnes MA, Fred Kirschenmann PhD, Geoff Willming, Matt Bulle
Environmental Ethics, Voluntary Initiatives vs. Legal Imperatives to Heal Our Planet, Burns Weston LL.B, JSD and Andy Jameton PhD
War, Global Warming, Public Health, and Opportunity Costs, Victor Sidel MD and William Hartung

3:30 PM Plenary Panel IV

Global Warming, Health and Human Rights Links

The Arctic Bellwether–Impact of Energy Extraction, & Use on Health and Human Rights of World’s Indigenous, Marginalized & Poorest, Donald Goldberg JD
Healthcare of Poor, Minorities, Marginalized Before, During, After Katrina, Ravi Vadlamudi MD

4:30 PM Plenary Panel V Halting and Reversing Global Warming: Affordable, Attainable, Sustainable Solutions

Promoting and Attaining a Healthy, Rights Based Paradigm, Michael Dworkin JD
Confronting Coal, Bruce Nilles JD

8:00 PM Concurrent Workshops

Concerned Scientists, Health Care Providers, Arjun Makhijani PhD and Catherine Thomasson MD
Student Groups—Student PSR, AMSA, ESW, Global Pulse Leader
Concerned Business Leaders, Peter Barnes MA, Fred Kirschenmann PhD, Geoff Willming, Matt Bulle
Faith Based/Religious Leaders, Ben & Cathy Webb, others
Law Makers, Rights Based, Andy Jameton RN PhD, Carolyn Raffensperger JD, and Ed Fallon BA
Indigenous Peoples, Minorities, Labor, Mike McCally MD PhD, Ravi Vadlamudi MD MPH, and Dan Holub JD

Sunday, September 16

9:00 AM Opening Inspirational Remarks

Imperatives of Tikkun Olam, Gerald Sorokin
Cool Congregations–Compelling Commitments, Rev. Ben Webb

9:30 AM Closing Keynote

Peter Barnes MA, Introducing the Sky Trust to Protect the Atmosphere

10:15 AM Plenary Panel VI

Good News: Cases of Humane Healthy Living Through Sustainable Energy

How the West Coast is coming Clean & Green, Catherine Thomasson MD
Cool Cities, Mark Kresowik BA and Frank Cownie (invited),
UCS, Assessing the National Legislative Frontier: The Good Bad, and Nonexistent, Rich Dana

11:30 AM Plenary Panel VII

Developing Coalitions, Learning from Others, Working Together Toward a Healthy, Secure, Sustainable Future, Saturday Workshop Leaders Report Results & Consult Audience Members