Meanwhile, Back on Earth

Selections from the Human Health chapter of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, originally scheduled to be released as part of a major science conference in December, but suddenly dropped in the middle of a four-day weekend to provide informed citizens ample time to— haha, who are we kidding, they dumped it on Black Friday! No worries, enjoy the leftovers!

• The health and well-being of Americans are already affected by climate change, with the adverse health consequences projected to worsen with additional climate change. Climate change affects human health by altering exposures to heat waves, floods, droughts, and other extreme events; vector-, food- and waterborne infectious diseases; changes in the quality and safety of air, food, and water; and stresses to mental health and well-being.
• Climate change is expected to alter the geographic range, seasonal distribution, and abundance of disease vectors, exposing more people in North America to ticks that carry Lyme disease or other bacterial and viral agents, and to mosquitoes that transmit West Nile, chikungunya, dengue, and Zika viruses.
• Higher temperatures can lead to an increase in aggressive behaviors, including homicide.

• In 49 large cities in the United States, changes in extreme hot and extreme cold temperatures are projected to result in more than 9,000 additional premature deaths per year under a higher scenario by the end of the century, although this number would be lower if considering acclimatization or other adaptations (for example, increased use of air conditioning).
• Projected increases in extreme precipitation and flooding, combined with inadequate water and sewer infrastructure, can contribute to viral and bacterial contamination from combined sewage overflows and a lack of access to potable drinking water, increasing exposure to pathogens that lead to gastrointestinal illness.
• Annual national cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease are projected to more than double by 2050 due to increasing temperatures, among other factors, resulting in approximately $1 billion per year in hospitalization costs and premature deaths under a higher scenario.
• Climate change, including rising temperatures and changes in weather extremes, is projected to adversely affect food security by altering exposures to certain pathogens and toxins (for example, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Vibrio parahaemolyticus in raw oysters, and mycotoxigenic fungi).
• Drier conditions can increase reproduction of a fungus found in soils, potentially leading to the disease coccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever. Coccidioidomycosis can cause persistent flu-like symptoms, with over 40% of cases hospitalized and 75% of patients unable to perform their normal daily activities for weeks, months, or longer. Higher numbers of cases in Arizona and California are associated with periods of drier conditions as measured by lower soil moisture in the previous winter and spring.
• Increasing water temperatures associated with climate change are projected to alter the seasonality of growth and the geographic range of harmful algae and coastal pathogens, and runoff from more frequent and intense rainfall is projected to increasingly compromise recreational waters and sources of drinking water through increased introductions of pathogens and toxic algal blooms.
• By the end of the century, warming under a higher scenario (RCP8.5) is projected to increase the length of time recreational waters have concentrations of harmful algal blooms (cyanobacteria) above the recommended public health threshold by one month annually; these bacteria can produce a range of toxins that can cause gastrointestinal illness, neurological disorders, and other illnesses.

Fourth National Climate Assessment

A Grave Climate Warning, Buried on Black Friday [Atlantic]