Climate change is a hot political topic, but when it is discussed in an ATS scientific symposium on Tuesday, politics will take a back seat to how climate change affects respiratory health.
“We are not debating whether climate change is real,” said Kent E. Pinkerton, Ph.D., who is a professor in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology and director of the Center for Health and the Environment at the University of California, Davis. “We will look at it from the perspective of what climate change has to do with respiratory patients.”
The purpose of symposium is to increase physicians’ and researchers’ awareness of the impact climate change has on respiratory health, he added. “Often, we do not see its connection and impact on lungs. This session will help attendees understand what those impacts are,” Dr. Pinkerton said.
Climate change significantly affects air quality and the ozone, and it is linked to chemical reactions, the formation of particulate matter and greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, he explained.
Other effects of climate change include a changing profile of many infectious agents. For example, some agents that used to be limited to the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea are now found in northern Europe, Dr. Pinkerton said.
“Climate change has also altered the seasonality of pollen,” he said. “Pollen season can come early and last longer, and problems associated with pollen and mold have a significant impact on pulmonary health,” he continued. “We don’t understand it well, but if you have poor air quality, you have increased susceptibility due to pollens.”
The session will include the following presentations:
“Climate Change from the Global Perspective”—David Levinson, Ph.D.
“Global Climate Change: Respiratory and Ecology”—William N. Rom, M.D, M.P.H., who is the Sol and Judith Bergstein Professor of Medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center;
“Climate Change and Federal Research Priorities”—Helene Margolis, Ph.D., who is an assistant adjunct professor in the department of internal medicine at the University of California, Davis;
“Climate Change: Agriculture and Worker Health,” by Marc B. Schenker, M.D., M.P.H., who is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis;
“Climate Change in a Changing World: Centers for Disease Control”—George Luber, Ph.D., who is associate director for climate change at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
“EPA Programs and Climate Change in Congress”—Erika N. Sasser, Ph.D., who is an adjunct assistant professor of environmental policy at Duke University.