Climate change is already making people sicker, according to a deep-dive written by Renee Cho for Columbia University's Earth Institute on Monday.
Cho pointed to the example of doctors in Florida who are noticing that their patients run through prescriptions faster as conditions like asthma worsen due to heat waves.
Indeed, Florida doctors have observed enough instances of climate-related health issues that they've banded together to form Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, The Miami Herald reported in February.
"Being in Florida especially, you can't not realize what's happening to our climate. I see it right now on a day-to-day basis," Dr. Cheryl Holder, president of the Florida State Medical Association, told The Herald.
Florida doctors have also noticed that heat waves coincide with more hospital visits due to heart failure, Florida Institute for Health Innovation head Roderick King told The Herald. He hopes to fund a study investigating the link.
In the Earth Institute article, Cho also mentioned the spread of diseases like Lyme disease, which have sickened people in Pennsylvania for the first time.
Cho's analysis comes a week after an article published in Undark examining the spread of Lyme disease into Canada, where there were more than six times the number of Lyme disease cases reported in 2016 compared to 2009.
Some scientists even think climate change had a hand in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2014 to 2016. According to their hypothesis, heavy rains following dry periods produced more fruit, which attracted both bats and apes. The bats caught the disease from the apes while feeding and then passed it to the humans who came in contact with them, Cho wrote.
If that sounds frightening, know that health outcomes only look to get worse as warming increases. Though most of the culprits will not be rare diseases like Ebola but rather the usual public health suspects on steroids, according to World Health Organization (WHO) projections cited by Cho.
Every year between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause an additional 250,000 deaths worldwide, the WHO predicts.
The WHO further breaks down that 250,000 figure.
The highest death toll, 95,000 per year, is likely to be among children affected by malnutrition, which will increase as droughts and changing rainfall patterns impact the growth of staple crops in poorer countries.
The next most lethal cause of death will be malaria, at 60,000 per year. Climate change is likely to increase the range of the Anopheles mosquitoes that carry the disease.
The next is diarrhea at 48,000 per year, as flooding and fluctuating rainfall threaten clean water supplies.
Finally, the WHO predicts 38,000 elderly people will lose their lives due to heat waves on a yearly basis.
Luckily, there are steps that communities can take to mitigate the risk posed by climate change, such as regularly checking public drinking water for disease, planting green roofs to cool buildings, and educating the public about the importance of insect repellant. But in order to take these steps, it is important to be informed about what the health risks are.
"When we talk about adapting to climate change, we have to have an understanding of what we're adapting to and when. And we don't know that perfectly … But we do know enough to think that we have to start investing now in building resilience, reducing the vulnerability of populations to threats that are dominant in the region, and building awareness so that, as we do learn more, the population is already well-informed and can make use of the information in a productive way," senior research scientist Madeleine Thomson, at the Earth Institute's International Research Institute for Climate and Society, told Cho.
Why Climate Change Is Worsening Public Health Problems https://t.co/fA6gJI3k1H #climatechange #publichealth @NRDC… https://t.co/RbQYlSoC6u— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)1516985903.0
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The bright patterns and recognizable designs of Waterlust's activewear aren't just for show. In fact, they're meant to promote the conversation around sustainability and give back to the ocean science and conservation community.
Each design is paired with a research lab, nonprofit, or education organization that has high intellectual merit and the potential to move the needle in its respective field. For each product sold, Waterlust donates 10% of profits to these conservation partners.
Eye-Catching Designs Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
waterlust.com / @abamabam
The company sells a range of eco-friendly items like leggings, rash guards, and board shorts that are made using recycled post-consumer plastic bottles. There are currently 16 causes represented by distinct marine-life patterns, from whale shark research and invasive lionfish removal to sockeye salmon monitoring and abalone restoration.
One such organization is Get Inspired, a nonprofit that specializes in ocean restoration and environmental education. Get Inspired founder, marine biologist Nancy Caruso, says supporting on-the-ground efforts is one thing that sets Waterlust apart, like their apparel line that supports Get Inspired abalone restoration programs.
"All of us [conservation partners] are doing something," Caruso said. "We're not putting up exhibits and talking about it — although that is important — we're in the field."
Waterlust not only helps its conservation partners financially so they can continue their important work. It also helps them get the word out about what they're doing, whether that's through social media spotlights, photo and video projects, or the informative note card that comes with each piece of apparel.
"They're doing their part for sure, pushing the information out across all of their channels, and I think that's what makes them so interesting," Caruso said.
And then there are the clothes, which speak for themselves.
Advocate Apparel to Start Conversations About Conservation
waterlust.com / @oceanraysphotography
Waterlust's concept of "advocate apparel" encourages people to see getting dressed every day as an opportunity to not only express their individuality and style, but also to advance the conversation around marine science. By infusing science into clothing, people can visually represent species and ecosystems in need of advocacy — something that, more often than not, leads to a teaching moment.
"When people wear Waterlust gear, it's just a matter of time before somebody asks them about the bright, funky designs," said Waterlust's CEO, Patrick Rynne. "That moment is incredibly special, because it creates an intimate opportunity for the wearer to share what they've learned with another."
The idea for the company came to Rynne when he was a Ph.D. student in marine science.
"I was surrounded by incredible people that were discovering fascinating things but noticed that often their work wasn't reaching the general public in creative and engaging ways," he said. "That seemed like a missed opportunity with big implications."
Waterlust initially focused on conventional media, like film and photography, to promote ocean science, but the team quickly realized engagement on social media didn't translate to action or even knowledge sharing offscreen.
Rynne also saw the "in one ear, out the other" issue in the classroom — if students didn't repeatedly engage with the topics they learned, they'd quickly forget them.
"We decided that if we truly wanted to achieve our goal of bringing science into people's lives and have it stick, it would need to be through a process that is frequently repeated, fun, and functional," Rynne said. "That's when we thought about clothing."
Support Marine Research and Sustainability in Style
To date, Waterlust has sold tens of thousands of pieces of apparel in over 100 countries, and the interactions its products have sparked have had clear implications for furthering science communication.
For Caruso alone, it's led to opportunities to share her abalone restoration methods with communities far and wide.
"It moves my small little world of what I'm doing here in Orange County, California, across the entire globe," she said. "That's one of the beautiful things about our partnership."
Check out all of the different eco-conscious apparel options available from Waterlust to help promote ocean conservation.
Melissa Smith is an avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker, and all-around outdoor enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and sustainable studies. Before joining EcoWatch, Melissa worked as the managing editor of Scuba Diving magazine and the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a non-profit that's featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral.