As the earth continues to heat up, the drive is on to save everything from polar bears and ice caps to our coastlines. But some doctors worry we're forgetting something very important: ourselves.
"Most of the focus on climate change has been on the effects on planet Earth. People haven't really thought about the impact in terms of health," said Dr. Paul Auerbach.
Auerbach, who has been on the frontline of medical care during several recent disasters, insists we need to expand our focus on climate change to include us. In fact, a recent report from The Lancet medical journal explained how a warmer earth is already affecting millions of peoples' lives in very small, but critical ways.
Examples include more heat-related deaths and extreme allergy seasons, which can be life threatening to a portion of the population. Environmental changes like more rainfall means more malaria because of ponding water, a perfect breeding ground for mosquito outbreaks. In some areas with less rain there is the threat of fire.
"Recently we've had a run of wildfires in California. And the air quality was severely impacted. I saw a lot more of my asthmatic patients coming in. They couldn't breathe," said Dr. Sharon Chinthrajah with the Stanford Medical Center.
So what can we do? First, get educated. Track the air quality in your area especially if you have a preexisting condition.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also created a chart to show how global climate change is influencing human health and disease in numerous ways.
