“The Lancet Commission says climate change is the greatest public health threat. The World Bank says climate change is a global health emergency. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the very authoritative group that works on climate change, estimates 3.6 billion people are living in conditions that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” professor Ellis Adjei Adams said.
On Wednesday evening in Jankins and Nanovic, Notre Dame professors met to discuss the effects of climate change on human health. To kick off the discussion, Adams, a professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs, emphasized the growing danger of climate change.
Professors Jason Rohr and Tracy Kijewski-Correa reviewed the current and future challenges regarding climate change with the Notre Dame community. Kijewski-Correa explained that the vulnerabilities of climate change are not just the climate change itself but the way it manifests in floods, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires that can wipe out natural resources in a single moment.
These adversities can set communities back after generations of underdevelopment. The subsequent consequences, on top of direct death and injury, also include displacement and mental health issues. The numbers reported on the issue of the disasters do not account for the secondary effects.
“Those who contribute the least to climate change are the most impacted,” Rohr said.
Rohr noted that the disadvantaged have to go through the overall recognition of the stressors associated with climate change. Many disparities are associated with infectious diseases that may be impacted by climate change and their treatment.
Kijewski-Correa acknowledged it is also important to have more discussion on the issue of climate change as the “past no longer predicts the future.”
According to Kijewski-Correa, the models the researchers use are entirely calibrated with past weather, and the models no longer successfully predict the future. Humans also react regressively to the models.
Reflecting on her experience in Texas, Kijewski-Correa, noted that when the model accurately predicted freeze, the people “didn’t know how to prepare, how to shut off pipes, how to keep themselves warm and safe, and it led to so many losses in lives.”
Individuals told her team as much: “‘They told us to get ready, but we didn’t know what that meant because we’ve never seen this before. Even if the model and statistics do tell something, we do not know how to react to it.’” The model did little to influence human behavior and offset the negative effects of this climate event.
In response to the situation, Professor Rohr emphasized the importance of “embracing the interconnections” between diverse groups to formulate possible solutions and to never stop looking for the “bright spots.”
