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Effects of Global Warming on Public Health

From the Show: Health Radio
Summary: Global warming is harming our health.
Air Date: 5/11/16
Duration: 10
Host: Melanie Cole, MS
Guest Bio: Lynn Goldman, MD, MS, MPH
Dr. Lynn GoldmanLynn R. Goldman is the Michael and Lori Milken Dean at Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University (Milken Institute SPH). Before joining Milken Institute SPH in 2010, she was a professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to that, Goldman served as assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, where she was responsible for national implementation of chemical and pesticide safety and pollution prevention laws.

She also worked at the California Department of Public Health, where she headed the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control. Dr. Goldman is a pediatrician and environmental epidemiologist who has had a distinguished career in environmental public health and academia. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, she has chaired or served on numerous committees and forums. She currently serves on the National Academy of Medicine Governing Council, the Governing Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences’ Engineering and Medicine Board on Life Sciences Report Review Committee. She is a member of the FDA Science Board and the Advisory Committee to the Director of the CDC. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and as a Trustee for the Environmental Defense Fund.

In 2013, Goldman received an honorary doctorate from Örebro University in Sweden for her contributions to chemical legislation in the U.S. and Sweden and her influence on the research conducted at the university’s Man Technology Environment Research Center.

She holds a B.S. in conservation of natural resources and an M.S. in health and medical science from the University of California, Berkeley; an M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins University; and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco.
Effects of Global Warming on Public Health
Climate change is affecting human health more than doctors have noticed in the past.

Pollen, wildfires, temperature changes and man-made pollution are getting to us. Asthma is on the rise in children. Summer heat-related deaths outweigh winter cold-weather deaths.

Something has to change.

Right now we're facing more heat waves. The elderly are most affected by the heat, dying of heat stroke and dehydration. It's important to keep cool and stay hydrated when the temperature climbs.

There are increases in air pollution that appear to be related to climate change. When the air is hotter, it creates a favorable condition for more harmful ozone to be close to the earth. We breathe that low-level ozone and it can trigger asthma attacks.

We're facing more severe storms now than ever. Injuries and death from storms always make the news. The impact from these storms seems greater. There appear to be more hurricanes, floods and rockslides. These all impact public health.

People need to become aware of the science of what's happening to our planet. We need to work together to do something about it.

Right now you can make a difference. Conserve power. Walk, bicycle or take public transportation to decrease pollution. If we all make small changes, we will have a collective impact.

Dr. Lynn Goldman explains how global warming is harming our health, as well as viable solutions to combat the effects.