Most of us who have lived in the Pacific Northwest for a while probably have had the same question on our mind with August rolling around. How bad will the smoke be? In the last few years our region has seen record breaking numbers in wildfire as well as generally hotter summers. It is no coincidence that these numbers are on the rise. All over the news, whether here, or across the nation and the world. We have been experiencing record breaking hot summers. These heat waves are just one of the consequences of climate change and an example of how it will, and already has, impacted our region and our health. Climate change is predicted to cause numerous harmful human health effects, some of which we are already experiencing.We need to take steps now to safeguard the health and well-being of people in our community.
Climate change impacts our health in a variety of ways. Some of these are direct through increased heat-related illness and death. Others are more indirect, such as droughts increasing food insecurity or flooding changing our vector ecology. While these links are not as direct as the mosquito that transmits diseases, you can think of climate change as a multiplier to existing health threats. Climate change amplifies and exacerbates existing negative impacts to the health of our community.