The Climate Change and Health: Implications for Clinical Practice symposium is held by Wexner Medical Center Divisions of Internal Medicine and Hospital Medicine and Ohio Clinicians for Climate Action. Credit: Courtesy of Lauren Koch

When Hurricane Katrina hit and people were displaced to Houston, Dr. Andrew Schamess paused his private practice and rushed to help. 

He drew on that experience during a symposium held by the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State and Ohio Clinicians for Climate Action Friday. 

Schamess, an internal medicine physician at the medical center, served as co-chair of the “Climate Change and Health: Implications for Clinical Practice” symposium where speakers discussed the wide-reaching effects of climate change, including the effects on public health.

The timing of summer precipitation plays a role in food production and farmers’ crops, and increases in rain intensity, dryness and temperature can all impact individual health, Aaron Wilson, a research scientist at the Byrd Polar & Climate Research Center and climate specialist with OSU Extension in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said. 

“There’s no doubt right here in Ohio we’re wetter and warmer, and that’s going to have impacts on everything in society,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the Fourth National Climate Assessment in 2018 showed more than 95 percent of land surface in the U.S. demonstrated an increase in annual average temperature. 

According to the 2018 assessment, annual average temperatures have also increased by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit across the U.S. since the beginning of the 20th century.

In the summer, Ohio isn’t experiencing as many days with temperatures in the 90s and 100s degrees as in the early 20th century, while nighttimes are warming much faster, Wilson said.

Dena Champion, registered dietitian at the medical center, said rising carbon dioxide levels can impact the nutritional content of the food we eat through pesticide use.

“Spraying more pesticides for more weeds, you get a heavy rainfall, and we’ve got a runoff into that water system,” Champion said. “If you’re fishing in there, that can contribute to those pollutants getting into whatever it is we’re eating.”

Exposure to pollutants increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, strokes and diabetes, Champion said.

“It’s easy to wrap your head around the idea that pollution can contribute to lung cancer, or to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), or to asthma, but it’s really astounding to me that it can contribute to something like cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” Champion said. “We’re breathing in, these pollutants are getting into our lungs, and then they’re entering our bloodstream.” 

Schamess said while individual choice plays a role in reducing emissions, people cannot be expected to consistently make decisions that prioritize clean energy.

“I don’t think we can frame that necessarily as it’s all a matter of individual choice, everybody has to buy organic vegan food and everybody has to buy a hybrid car, because obviously that’s not affordable,” Schamess said. 

Schamess said he doesn’t think the medical community is paying a lot of attention to climate change due to its small medicinal impact, despite the recent shift in public opinion and the scientific recognition of its existence.

“The dialogue that has to happen now is what’s going to be the impact on people’s health and well-being,” Schamess said. “I think we’re just beginning that both in the field of medicine and with the general public, and I’m expecting it may take another 10 years for that to really percolate where people see this as an issue that’s relevant to them individually.”