[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 57 (Thursday, April 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2937-S2938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, today I talk about public health. As I
hope many of my colleagues are aware, this week is National Public
Health Week, and this year's goal is to increase the Nation's awareness
of the serious effects of global warming on the public's health.
When I say global warming, people think of many things. You might
think of polar bears, vanishing glaciers, or rising sea levels, but you
are not likely to think of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. This is unfortunate because there is a direct connection
between global warming and the health of our Nation.
A warming planet will affect food, water, shelter, and the spread of
infectious diseases. At the same time, we will face more extreme
weather events. Storms, floods, droughts, and heat waves will have an
acute impact, particularly on hundreds of millions of people in the
developing world.
Climate change is very much a public health issue.
The science behind global warming is no longer debatable. Scientists
from around the globe have stated in the strongest possible terms that
the climate is changing, and human activity is to blame. These changes
are already dramatically affecting human health around the world.
The World Health Organization reported that the climate change which
occurred from 1961 to 1990 may already be causing over 150,000 deaths
or the loss of over 5.5 million disability-adjusted life years annually
starting in 2000.
These numbers are staggering, but they should not be surprising:
climate change influences our living environment on the most
fundamental level, which means it affects the basic biological
functions critical to life.
It impacts the air we breathe and the food available for us to eat.
It impacts the availability of our drinking water and the spread of
diseases that can make us sick.
Last year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report
on climate change put to rest the arguments of many skeptics. But the
frequently cited report of Working Group One is just one of three
separate IPCC reports. Working Group Two simultaneously issued a
sobering report on the impacts of climate change. They predicted that
up to 250 million people across Africa could face water shortages by
2020, and that agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50 percent.
Crop yields in central and South Asia could drop by 30 percent. People
everywhere who depend on glaciers or snow pack for their drinking water
will be forced to find new supplies.
This is not speculation. These effects are already measurable. The
World Health Organization predicts that asthma deaths will rise by 20
percent over the next 10 years, and that climate change is causing
greater outbreaks of Rift Valley fever and the spread of malaria in
higher elevations in Africa, and more frequent cholera epidemics in
Bangladesh. The CDC is preparing for more heat-wave planning and
forecasting.
The public health costs of global climate change are likely to be
greatest to the nations of the world who have contributed least to the
problem. As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, we have a
moral obligation to help these countries, which are also least likely
to have the resources to prepare or respond themselves. Any strategies
for managing climate change impacts must address this unequal burden,
and to take into account their unique challenges and needs.
These impacts are different in different parts of the world--and
equally troubling, they are disproportionately burdensome for the
world's more vulnerable populations. Children, the elderly, the poor,
and those with chronic and other health conditions are the most
vulnerable to the negative health impacts of climate change.
There is growing recognition that we must act, and we must act now.
Fortunately, many of the choices individuals should make for the sake
of their health--and the health of their communities--are the same
choices that benefit the health of the planet. Making the climate
change issue real means helping people understand how the way they live
affects themselves and others, whether through their transportation
choices, their use of water and electricity or the types of goods they
purchase and consume.
[[Page S2938]]
What is good to reduce global warming is good for public health, and
the shift away from fossil fuels and a movement toward general
environmental awareness aligns with existing public health goals.
Clean, renewable energy means less dependence on fossil fuels. The
combination of less coal and cleaner coal leads to a host of health
benefits. Fewer particulate emissions mean less asthma. Reduced mercury
emissions could lead to fewer developmental disorders.
The transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse
gases. Encouraging and enabling people to walk, bicycle, or use public
transportation reduces vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and improves
urban air quality. But it simultaneously improves an individual's
health by increasing physical activity. Improving community design to
reduce reliance on cars also means less obesity and diabetes. We should
be encouraging States to design and create healthy communities.
We cannot wait to act. We should all continue to work toward national
and international policies which fight global warming. And we will make
sure that we act justly and help the poorest countries, which are
hardest hit by this problem.
And we can start now. Now is the time to prepare our water,
agricultural, and disease prevention systems for a warmer planet. Now
is also the time to invest in renewable energy and to build pedestrian
and bicycle friendly cities. What is good for the planet is good for
public health, and I encourage everyone to remember that solutions to a
global problem can have immediate, individual benefits.
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