Climate Change and Health in Connecticut: 2020 Report
January 25, 2021Dr. Laura Bozzi, Director of Programs - YCCCH
January 22, 2021
The Yale Center on Climate Change and Health recently released Climate Change and Health in Connecticut: 2020 Report. This comprehensive report tracks 19 indicators across four categories – temperature, extreme events, infectious diseases, and air quality – to demonstrate the impact of climate change, now and in the future, on human health in Connecticut. In this webinar, report lead author Laura Bozzi, PhD reviewed the report’s approach, findings, and policy recommendations.
Information
- ID
- 6122
- To Cite
- DCA Citation Guide
Transcript
- 00:01- Okay, so welcome everyone.
- 00:03I think we'll get started.
- 00:06I'm Robert Dubrow.
- 00:08I'm the Faculty Director
- 00:10of the Yale Center on Climate Change in Health
- 00:13and I'd like to welcome everyone.
- 00:16So our center works in the domains
- 00:18of research education and public health practice
- 00:21and also on the local and international levels.
- 00:26So of course, one of the main full side
- 00:28of our work is Connecticut, where we live and work.
- 00:32So with the goal of helping policy makers
- 00:35and advocates in Connecticut advance your work,
- 00:38this sensor and Laura in particular, put a great deal
- 00:41of effort into researching and writing climate change health
- 00:46in Connecticut, the 2020 report.
- 00:49So it's a pleasure to introduce Dr. Laura Bozzi
- 00:53who's our Director of Programs
- 00:56and the lead author of the report.
- 00:58And she'll be presenting the report's main finding.
- 01:03Just a couple of housekeeping items
- 01:06for this webinar being recorded
- 01:08and it'll be available on our website there on.
- 01:11Second, be sure to stay muted.
- 01:15And third, if you have questions, you can put them
- 01:18into the chat box and we'll have a question
- 01:21and answer period at the end of Laura's presentation.
- 01:24So Laura, we're looking forward to your presentation.
- 01:29- Great, thanks Rob and welcome everyone.
- 01:34First I wanna think and recognize Rob as the co-author
- 01:38of this report that we'll discuss today,
- 01:41as well as some other contributors
- 01:42that are Ian Maro, Diaz Hernandez, Chi Chen
- 01:46in a former student at Melville Vessel.
- 01:50So thank you again
- 01:51for your interest in this important topic.
- 01:54Let's see, Rob mentioned the center a bit
- 01:58but just want to orient you
- 01:59to the Yale Center on Climate Change in Health.
- 02:02As Rob mentioned, our work is global
- 02:04but we have a particular focus here in Connecticut.
- 02:09And we invite you to stay engaged
- 02:12with the Yale Center and Climate Change in Health.
- 02:14We have a great slate of webinars
- 02:17that are coming up this semester.
- 02:20You can sign up for them on Eventbrite,
- 02:22learn about the more on our website
- 02:26and I think Myra is putting in links into the chat
- 02:28and please stay connected with us.
- 02:30You can follow us on social media.
- 02:32You can sign up for our newsletter on our website.
- 02:39So onto the report.
- 02:41We released this report in September of 2020.
- 02:44We hope it provides a comprehensive look
- 02:46at climate change and health in Connecticut.
- 02:49It covers 19 indicators across four domains, temperature,
- 02:53extreme events, infectious diseases, and air quality.
- 02:56You'll see the list of 19 indicators to your right.
- 03:00It's purpose is to inform policy makers,
- 03:03health professionals, advocates and residents.
- 03:06Many of you on the call today
- 03:07about the impact of climate change
- 03:09now in the future on the health
- 03:11either on human health in Connecticut.
- 03:15Wherever possible we report indicators are for each County
- 03:18and those who aren't from Connecticut, other eight counties
- 03:21which makes it a better reasonable task.
- 03:25And we tracked as far back as the data set would allow.
- 03:28Some of our data sets went back to the late 1800s.
- 03:32I'll note though that in this presentation
- 03:34I'm largely showing the statewide results.
- 03:36So really encourage you to look at the report
- 03:38if you're looking for the County level results.
- 03:42And we noted linear trends
- 03:44when they are statistically significant.
- 03:46Some of the trends were significant
- 03:48and they were demonstrating trends consistent
- 03:53with what we'd expect under climate change
- 03:55like increasing average temperature.
- 03:57The others don't show trends yet, but we report
- 04:03in our findings about scientific studies
- 04:05and how they project those changes to occur in the future.
- 04:11So I'll plot on some of the indicators
- 04:13but 19 is a lot to cover in less than an hour
- 04:15so again, please check out our report on the website.
- 04:22And I'll tell you a little bit more about our data sources.
- 04:25So we used all publicly available data
- 04:28from federal agencies, State agencies
- 04:30and a medical association.
- 04:32We were particularly looking at federal agency data
- 04:36and that means that it's largely available
- 04:39across the country.
- 04:40So if you're in another state and you want to look at this,
- 04:43you can reference our data sources.
- 04:46And I'll note, one of them that I think is really useful
- 04:50particularly in say a classroom, is this climate
- 04:53at a glance from Noah and see in the center on the right
- 04:56or you can access temperature and precipitation data
- 05:01since the late 1800s as you'll see that we used.
- 05:09To give you some context for our report.
- 05:11I want to summarize some
- 05:13projected climate change impacts in Connecticut.
- 05:15These are largely drawn from a really important report
- 05:19that came from a UCONN and CIRCA researchers
- 05:22called the Connecticut physical science assessment report,
- 05:25as well as updates that are found
- 05:27in the governor's council on climate change,
- 05:29Connecticut governor's council on climate change report
- 05:31from the science and technology committee.
- 05:34And one thing to note is that there's high confidence
- 05:37in projected changes through mid-century, so about 2050,
- 05:41but then the projections after mid-century really depends
- 05:45on the actions that we take now to mitigate climate change
- 05:48and reduce an end our use of fossil fuels.
- 05:52And in fact, the GC3 report wrote recently
- 05:55coordinated mitigation now means it's more likely
- 05:59that the temperature will stabilize after 2050
- 06:02if not warming is likely to accelerate.
- 06:05So to summarize some of the projections.
- 06:09This is from the UCONN CIRCA report.
- 06:13They project a five degree increase
- 06:15in annual average temperature by mid-century compared
- 06:20to the base period of 1970 to 1999.
- 06:25In that same period, 8.5% increase in annual precipitation
- 06:29but this is mostly due to increases
- 06:31in the winter and the spring.
- 06:35Because of that increase in heavy rainfall events,
- 06:39a greater flood risk.
- 06:41And while there is more annual precipitation,
- 06:45there's less in the summer increasing summer droughts
- 06:49up to three times as often
- 06:49by the end of the century I believe.
- 06:53Additionally warm spell days which are like heat waves.
- 06:58They project those to increase from less than three
- 07:00per year in the 1950s to 44 per year in 2050
- 07:04and more than 120 per year by 2100.
- 07:07That's with business as usual high emissions scenario.
- 07:13For sea level rise, there are projections of 20 inches
- 07:16or a half a meter by 2050, but then what happens
- 07:20after that really depends on our climate actions.
- 07:22So without a strong reduction in CO2 emissions,
- 07:27recent work indicates that it could be
- 07:29up to 80 inches or 6.7 feet by 2100.
- 07:34And finally Atlantic hurricanes are expected
- 07:37to become more intense, meaning greater wind speed
- 07:40with greater amounts of precipitation.
- 07:46Well, climate change affects everyone.
- 07:48It does not affect everyone equally.
- 07:51It's often called a climate risk amplifier.
- 07:54Some people are more vulnerable to others
- 07:56because of where they live or work their age or race,
- 07:59their health condition, their social economic status.
- 08:02And you can see that depicted in this graphic.
- 08:05And essentially vulnerability is a function
- 08:08of three factors, exposure or how much a person
- 08:11is in contact with the climate hazard,
- 08:14sensitivity which is how much
- 08:20the climate hazard affects them
- 08:22which can differ from person to person
- 08:24based on biological traits and socioeconomic status,
- 08:28and an individual or community's adaptive capacity
- 08:31which is its ability to adapt
- 08:33or to cope with that climate hazard.
- 08:35And as you can imagine, this can be bolstered
- 08:37by resilience planning or by access to resources
- 08:40and it can be hampered
- 08:43by historic disinvestment in communities
- 08:48structural racism and larger structural factors.
- 08:54And I'll return to this issue of vulnerability
- 08:57and equity throughout the presentation.
- 09:02So I'll move on to the reports findings
- 09:05first around temperature.
- 09:07So annual average temperature is increased
- 09:10over three degrees Fahrenheit across Connecticut
- 09:13and in each County over the last 125 years.
- 09:16And in fact, six of the hottest years in Connecticut
- 09:20have been since 2005.
- 09:21And so you can see on this graph or the center line
- 09:24is the average for the 1900s of temperature.
- 09:28So all of the bars in later years are above zero
- 09:33meaning that they're higher than the average.
- 09:38So what does this mean for health?
- 09:40So there's wide range in effects
- 09:42and I'll talk about some of them in later slides.
- 09:46High heat days can cause
- 09:47heat stress, heat stroke and even death.
- 09:50High temperatures interact with air pollution
- 09:52particularly smog to produce even larger health impacts.
- 09:58Warmer winters create conditions for larger tick
- 10:01and mosquito populations that are active
- 10:04over a greater proportion of the year.
- 10:06It creates a longer season for ragweed pollen
- 10:08which causes hay fever, exacerbates asthma.
- 10:12We have another indicator that I don't present here
- 10:15but where we looked at frost days, which are days under 30
- 10:18under freezing where the temperature reaches under freezing.
- 10:21And we found that it decreased
- 10:23from 1950 to 2018 in four of the eight counties.
- 10:28And this has important ecological
- 10:30and then human health consequences.
- 10:33It can lead to more plant pests and longer season
- 10:36for their activity affecting both forests and agriculture.
- 10:39And I'll point in particular to something
- 10:43that the 2018 National Climate Assessment,
- 10:47they framed the Northeast chapter around
- 10:50changes in how this affects our seasonality
- 10:52and how that affects our sense of place.
- 10:54They noted that the seasonality of the Northeast
- 10:57is central to the region's sense of place
- 10:58and that it's an important driver of rural economies.
- 11:02So wide range in impacts from these warming temperatures.
- 11:10Digging down a little bit more on heat related illness.
- 11:16Extreme heat stresses the body's ability
- 11:18to maintain it's normal temperature,
- 11:19which can lead to heat related illness.
- 11:21And this may require emergency medical treatment
- 11:23or hospitalization, severe cases that can cause death.
- 11:28In Connecticut from 2007 to 2016,
- 11:31there were an average 422 ed visits
- 11:34and 45 hospitalizations per year for heat stress.
- 11:40As I said before, vulnerability is a function of exposure,
- 11:44sensitivity, and adaptive capacity.
- 11:47And on the right, you see a figure
- 11:51of the urban heat island effect.
- 11:53So this is the phenomenon where cities are hotter
- 11:57than the surrounding areas because of
- 12:01the greater heat generation and the absorption of heat
- 12:05due to the human materials.
- 12:10So you can see that there's greater exposure
- 12:13to heat in cities in Connecticut than in other parts.
- 12:17And that this is particularly an issue
- 12:20for residents in cities who have low financial
- 12:23or social resources to adapt.
- 12:26After our workers are another group with higher exposure
- 12:30to extreme heat, and may have limited ability to change.
- 12:35They have to work outside
- 12:37and if there aren't protective policies,
- 12:39then they may be at more risk.
- 12:41Other vulnerable populations include the old and the young,
- 12:44those with pre-existing medical conditions,
- 12:46those with limited social and financial resources,
- 12:49athletes and pregnant women.
- 12:52In Connecticut well young people are more likely
- 12:54to be treated in hospital emergency rooms
- 12:57for heat related illness than other age groups.
- 13:00The risk of inpatient admission.
- 13:01So more serious heat related illness
- 13:06in Connecticut increases with age
- 13:07and it's highest for those 75 and older.
- 13:11And importantly note that
- 13:14these vulnerability factors are cumulative.
- 13:16So if you're someone that we're both,
- 13:19we're multiple correspond to you,
- 13:22then you're at greater risk.
- 13:31So what can we do?
- 13:34These are a number of possible steps forward
- 13:39in terms of both policy and personal action.
- 13:42So the first is to make homes cooler, more energy efficient
- 13:45and powered by renewable energy.
- 13:48And we can do that in Connecticut
- 13:51through some specific ways.
- 13:52We can expand our energy assistance program
- 13:56called (indistinct) to include cooling assistance
- 13:58to make those that can't afford air conditioning
- 14:04particularly if they are medically vulnerable
- 14:07to heat related illness to make that more available.
- 14:10At the same time, we need to also address weatherization
- 14:17to make homes more energy efficient.
- 14:21There's a lot of work happening in the State right now
- 14:23to address the barriers to weatherization
- 14:26so that more people can get their homes weatherized
- 14:28and more energy efficient.
- 14:29And then finally, we wanna do all these actions
- 14:32while ramping up renewable energy programs
- 14:35like shared solar to make sure that they work
- 14:37for low and middle income customers and renters
- 14:41so that there is both the protection
- 14:43against heat while also making sure
- 14:46that we are using renewable energy to do that.
- 14:51Another way to cool our neighborhoods
- 14:54is by supporting an urban tree planting and maintenance.
- 14:58And I think on this point, it's important to consider
- 15:02that the greatest cooling effect
- 15:06is often from a larger shade tree.
- 15:08So it's not just planting,
- 15:09but it's also maintaining our larger trees.
- 15:11And there's some really interesting programs
- 15:14around shade tree ordinances or increasing funding
- 15:18around maintenance for existing trees.
- 15:23We need to protect against heat related illnesses
- 15:25at work sites, schools, and sports teams
- 15:27by creating plans and enforcing them to make sure
- 15:32that those that are exerting themselves outside
- 15:37are acclimated and receive proper rest watershed
- 15:43and other important health provisions.
- 15:46And municipalities can develop
- 15:48and maintain local heat response plans.
- 15:51There's a recommendation in the governor's council
- 15:53on climate change report that the State create a framework
- 15:57that the municipalities could build from.
- 16:01And then for personal action, elderly,
- 16:04you can check on elderly neighbors
- 16:06during extreme heat events
- 16:08and you can help to cool your neighborhoods
- 16:11through tree plantings and maintenance
- 16:13or by painting your roof white.
- 16:19And we'll move on to extreme events.
- 16:24So in this, just check my papers.
- 16:30So this next indicator,
- 16:34we track the number of weather disasters
- 16:37federally declared disasters through FEMA
- 16:41and found that from 2010 to 2019
- 16:44there were nine federal disaster declarations
- 16:47for weather events in Connecticut
- 16:49compared to only 13 in the previous 56 years.
- 16:52And you can see here that there are a number
- 16:55of quite memorable storms like Irene and Sandy,
- 17:00the Halloween or Easter, and some others
- 17:03and that they affected all counties in the State.
- 17:09So what does this mean for health?
- 17:12There are, of course, the immediate dangers
- 17:13from severe storms and flooding like drowning or injuries
- 17:18but there are other impacts, particularly due
- 17:22to disruption of critical infrastructure
- 17:25like the likes of electricity or sanitation,
- 17:27drinking water supplies, food, refrigeration, phone service.
- 17:32And this is important because it can interfere
- 17:35with access to medical care.
- 17:38It may be that if someone loses electricity
- 17:41and then they're on an electric medical device
- 17:44like for dialysis, that can be life-threatening.
- 17:47Roads may be closed so that ambulances
- 17:50can't reach someone in need.
- 17:52So these are important ways where
- 17:56there are larger longer-term ramifications
- 18:00from extreme events.
- 18:02There are also less visible but critically important issues
- 18:06related to mental health from disasters.
- 18:11Individuals, for instance whose households experienced
- 18:15a flood reported higher levels of depression than anxiety.
- 18:20These can persist for several years after an event.
- 18:24And finally, there is the building stock
- 18:28in lower income neighborhoods is often
- 18:29at increased risk for damage from natural disasters.
- 18:33And that this is in part due to structural inequality
- 18:37because of historic patterns
- 18:39of development in vulnerable areas and under investment
- 18:43in the public infrastructure in some areas
- 18:46leaving some more at risk than others
- 18:50within a given location.
- 18:56The next indicator looked at
- 18:59an interesting issue of Superfund sites.
- 19:01So the CIRCLA federal law on nicknamed Superfund
- 19:06identifies and cleans up polluted sites.
- 19:08There are thousands of these across the country,
- 19:10manufacturing facilities and processing plants,
- 19:12landfills, mining sites, and for this indicator
- 19:17we use data from the government accountability office
- 19:19where they looked at all Superfund sites in the country
- 19:23and using GIS they mapped which ones were vulnerable
- 19:26to different climate impacts.
- 19:29And for Connecticut, they found that seven sites,
- 19:33those marked on the map, out of Connecticut 16
- 19:38are vulnerable to climate change impacts.
- 19:40This is particularly that they're vulnerable,
- 19:43most are vulnerable to inland flooding,
- 19:46as you can see most of them are inland.
- 19:47There's one side at the bottom
- 19:50that's also vulnerable to hurricane impacts
- 19:54and hurricane storm surge and sea level rise.
- 19:58And this is a concern for human health
- 20:00because people can become exposed to the contaminants
- 20:04if they are released due to this impact
- 20:07and if they enter the ground or surface water
- 20:10or they get released into the air
- 20:12or they leach into the soil.
- 20:17Of course, this is another reason to prioritize
- 20:22investing in speedily cleaning up these contaminated sites.
- 20:31The next indicator I'll cover is high tide flooding.
- 20:33So high tide flooding is what it sounds like.
- 20:36It's that an area floods only during high tide,
- 20:40but that is related to sea level.
- 20:45And so as sea level increases,
- 20:48then high tide flooding becomes more common.
- 20:52And we can see that that is the case.
- 20:54There are two sites in Connecticut where this is measured,
- 20:58in New London and in Bridgeport.
- 20:59And I'm showing here the New London figure,
- 21:06but we see that the number has increased significantly
- 21:09since the beginning of the measurement period.
- 21:15And in and of itself high tide flooding
- 21:19is not of significant health risk
- 21:25but as it becomes more common
- 21:27then it can become certainly more concerning.
- 21:31And why is that?
- 21:33So one reason is that it
- 21:35can transmit pathogens like Vibrio bacteria
- 21:38if you're walking through waters that are contaminated.
- 21:40It also can contaminate drinking water supplies
- 21:43particularly if they're wells that are close to the Coast
- 21:47or contaminate coastal agricultural fields.
- 21:52And with highly developed coastlines, Connecticut is also
- 21:55at risk for high tide flooding
- 21:57affecting large number of roads, homes, businesses
- 22:01and other infrastructure that are along the Coast.
- 22:10So again, what can we do about this?
- 22:13In terms of policy and planning,
- 22:16we can make our homes more affordable,
- 22:17healthy and climate resilient, particularly recognizing
- 22:21that many homes are in
- 22:23either floodplains or in coastal areas.
- 22:28And this is especially important for low income
- 22:31communities who are disproportionately under-insured
- 22:33for protection or renters who are vulnerable
- 22:36to displacement after a disaster.
- 22:39And so the more that we can make housing secure,
- 22:43the better prepared we are for future climate impacts.
- 22:48Another specific action that municipalities can take
- 22:50is to enroll in FEMA's community rating system program
- 22:55which is a voluntary incentive program
- 22:57that discounts flood insurance, premium rates for residents
- 23:01in the municipalities that participate.
- 23:04There are about 19 municipalities in Connecticut
- 23:07that now participate.
- 23:11We can do more emergency planning in a shared backup power
- 23:14at both congregate settings and senior living facilities
- 23:18to be sure that those sites
- 23:19where there are more vulnerable residents
- 23:24that they're prepared for extreme weather events.
- 23:28And then for personal action, know your risk.
- 23:32You can look up whether you're in a flood zone
- 23:33or what kind of hurricane evacuations on your end,
- 23:36you can look up what your hurricane evacuation route is.
- 23:40If you're in that area, you can make a plan.
- 23:43And say this recognizing that there are limitations
- 23:49that make that kind of planning needs there
- 23:52for some people than others.
- 23:55And then I didn't cover it,
- 23:57but we do have an indicator on drought.
- 23:59And as I mentioned before in the future,
- 24:01Connecticut is expected to experience
- 24:05more drought than in the past.
- 24:08And so it's important to now adopt
- 24:10more water conservation measures
- 24:12both at the individual level and the municipal levels
- 24:15including installation of efficient appliances
- 24:18and installing low impact designs and making retrofits.
- 24:26Third, we'll move to infectious diseases.
- 24:32We conducted a detailed assessment of mosquito abundance
- 24:35for this indicator using data
- 24:37from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
- 24:41And we found that during 2001 to 2019
- 24:44of the 28 species found in Connecticut to carry viruses,
- 24:48that cause human disease,
- 24:4910 of those showed increasing abundance
- 24:52and three show trends of decrease in abundance.
- 24:55And this is important because mosquito abundance
- 24:57is a key factor that influences
- 24:59the capacity of the mosquito to transmit the virus
- 25:03and the rate in which infections spread.
- 25:06And you can see here a list of the mosquito species
- 25:12that each of the mosquito species you attract
- 25:14has been found to carry one or more
- 25:16of the following viruses that infect humans.
- 25:19And I'll note that we also have indicators
- 25:22that covered two these Tripoli and West Nile virus.
- 25:26And our findings here are important again,
- 25:29because increases in the abundance of mosquito species
- 25:32that are vectors for these diseases
- 25:34can lead to increases in the number of viral infections.
- 25:43On tick-borne illnesses, in fact,
- 25:46we found that the total number of cases of Lyme disease
- 25:49have decreased Statewide over the last decade or so,
- 25:53which is good news.
- 25:56However, there are emergency concerns.
- 25:59One issue that we highlight in the report
- 26:01is around lone star ticks.
- 26:03Lone star ticks transmit a number
- 26:05of diseases and medical conditions.
- 26:07And you can see the list there.
- 26:10The lone star tick is the most common human biting disease
- 26:12in the Southeastern United States.
- 26:15It's expanding into Connecticut likely
- 26:17due to climate factors particularly warming winters.
- 26:21And importantly that
- 26:22Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
- 26:25discovered established breeding populations
- 26:27in Fairfield County in 2018 and Haven County in 2019,
- 26:31meaning that the insects aren't transients
- 26:33that they're established in our State.
- 26:38I mentioned foodborne Vibrio or Vibrio briefly earlier.
- 26:42So Vibrio bacteria live in warm coastal waters,
- 26:47especially in lower salinity estuaries.
- 26:50Humans can become infected through two routes.
- 26:52One is by walking through water
- 26:57that carries the Vibrio bacteria
- 26:59especially with an exposed wound.
- 27:01But the second and the focus of this indicator
- 27:04is by eating contaminated seafood,
- 27:07especially shellfish that's where (indistinct).
- 27:10And you can see from the figure on the left
- 27:13the annual incidents of confirmed cases
- 27:15of vibrio infections has increased.
- 27:20Foodborne infections from Vibrio
- 27:23typically result in symptoms, including abdominal cramps
- 27:26and nausea, diarrhea, fever and chills.
- 27:30Most of them aren't significant,
- 27:32many people don't seek medical care
- 27:35so actually the numbers are under reported.
- 27:40But foodborne vibrio infections can be serious
- 27:43especially if they're caused by one particular species
- 27:46Vibrio vulnificus which causes 95%
- 27:50of all seafood related mortality in the United States.
- 27:53But fortunately, these kinds
- 27:55of infections are very rare in Connecticut.
- 27:59And you'll see on the right sea surface temperature
- 28:04at one site in Connecticut,
- 28:05on Niantic Bay during the summertime, over the same period
- 28:10as we're reporting the Vibrio infections.
- 28:16The bacteria grow best in warm water.
- 28:18And so you can see the strong association
- 28:20between higher sea surface temperature, the right
- 28:23and the greater vibrio abundance on the left.
- 28:27And already it's been observed
- 28:29that these infections increase during heat waves
- 28:32when this has been studied around the world.
- 28:35And this is one of the quite clear indications
- 28:42that we see in Connecticut so far of an association
- 28:46of climate change and health impacts.
- 28:54What can we do here?
- 28:56In terms of policies and programs,
- 28:59I'll note also on this point that the governor's council
- 29:02on climate change has issued its report recently
- 29:06that includes actions around public health and safety
- 29:09and that a number of our recommendations in our report
- 29:12and in this presentation are quite similar
- 29:15to those that are in the GC3 report
- 29:18and that's including in this instance.
- 29:24So we recommend surveillance of vectors
- 29:27and the sea doesn't take associated disease
- 29:29that is happening through
- 29:30the Connecticut Agricultural Station.
- 29:32And it's really important, particularly
- 29:34as they're emerging vectors and diseases in our area.
- 29:38And so relatedly, it's important to continue
- 29:42with public education on these emerging vectors in diseases
- 29:47and around prevention, best practices.
- 29:50And third and this is directly from the GC3 report,
- 29:54to develop vector-borne disease prevention
- 29:57and management guidelines for schools, outdoor recreation
- 30:00and homes to provide best practices at those sites
- 30:04for reducing infections or reducing disease.
- 30:10And then for personal action,
- 30:12you can create a tick safe zone in your yard.
- 30:16Many of us know already about best practices
- 30:18around tick prevention of wearing long pants.
- 30:21Using the insect repellent, doing a tick check.
- 30:26And then we want to keep mosquitoes out
- 30:30with high quality housing,
- 30:31mosquito tight screens and windows and doors.
- 30:35And there are some helpful resources, including
- 30:39from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Stations
- 30:42and I've won friends won the tick management handbook.
- 30:49Finally, we'll discuss the final domain of air quality.
- 30:56As you may be aware, Connecticut has issues
- 31:00with ground-level ozone pollution.
- 31:02And in fact, the American Lung Association gave each County
- 31:05an F grade for ozone pollution in its 2019 report.
- 31:10And similarly, we found that while the number
- 31:13of air quality days has decreased over time,
- 31:15so you can see the downward trend of those bar graphs
- 31:18for each County that more needs to be done
- 31:22to protect human health.
- 31:24So ground-level ozone is the result largely
- 31:27burning fossil fuels whether in our vehicles
- 31:29or in power plants.
- 31:31And so importantly, this is where we can see
- 31:33strong health co-benefits of climate actions.
- 31:39When we switched to clean energy sources
- 31:41or make our active transportation safer and easier,
- 31:44then we're also reducing
- 31:46these local drivers of air pollution.
- 31:51It's worth noting as well that much of our air pollution
- 31:55does come from States to our West,
- 31:59and so this points the need
- 32:00for a strong federal and regional action
- 32:03to address climate change and air pollution.
- 32:08Many of us are familiar with ground-level ozone or smog,
- 32:11but it's worth a reminder about the health effects.
- 32:13So it's a strong lung irritant.
- 32:16It can cause the shortness of breath or coughing,
- 32:19but it can cause more serious consequences
- 32:20and it can aggravate lung diseases like asthma,
- 32:24emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
- 32:26It can increase the frequencies of asthma attacks
- 32:30and it may contribute to
- 32:31the initial development of asthma in children.
- 32:35And it's worth noting that nationally asthma
- 32:38is the leading cause of school absenteeism.
- 32:41And as I said before, the combination
- 32:43of air quality, air quality alert days,
- 32:47poor quality days and high heat days
- 32:49is particularly dangerous to health.
- 32:52Looking forward under climate change
- 32:55under further climate change,
- 32:58there's concern that past progress
- 33:00on reducing ground-level ozone pollution is likely
- 33:02to be counteracted by something called the climate penalty,
- 33:05which is that higher temperatures and other climatic changes
- 33:08are expected to bring about higher ground
- 33:13level ozone concentrations,
- 33:14especially in already polluted areas.
- 33:17However, to underscore a point that we've made
- 33:20throughout the presentation, the size of that
- 33:22climate penalty depends on our action on climate change now.
- 33:25So when we look at a moderate emissions pathway,
- 33:28so taking more action on climate change compared
- 33:33to a business as usual, that could prevent approximately
- 33:36360 deaths per year by 2090 in the Northeast
- 33:40according to one study.
- 33:46For the final indicator that I'll cover here,
- 33:50this is on aeroallergens.
- 33:52We use data from a monitoring seitan in Waterbury
- 33:56that measured outdoor mold and grass pollen,
- 34:01tree pollen, and weed pollen.
- 34:04And we only found one significant trends
- 34:07and that was that since 2007,
- 34:10the percent of measure days with higher
- 34:12very high outdoor mold concentrations has increased.
- 34:17However, there are some national indications
- 34:20about changes in pollen exposure
- 34:23that might be associated with climate change.
- 34:26And this is due to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
- 34:30and one more temperatures that can cause longer seasons
- 34:36for pollen production.
- 34:37It can change the geographic distribution
- 34:40upon producing plants, and it can increase pollen,
- 34:43the actual pollen production per year
- 34:47and that this can overall, we may see
- 34:52more such pollen and more allergic reactions
- 34:57in the future under climate change.
- 35:03What can we do?
- 35:04I'm focusing here on actions that are
- 35:08making most use of addressing of reaping
- 35:11the health co-benefits of climate action.
- 35:13So first, Connecticut is considering
- 35:16a goal of 100% zero carbon electricity supply by 2040.
- 35:21And we think that that is a strong way
- 35:23to also address local to gain that those local
- 35:29health co-benefits of climate action.
- 35:34Another is to electrify
- 35:35the transportation and heating sectors.
- 35:37That's certainly easier said than done,
- 35:40but they come with real health co-benefits.
- 35:42In particular, you can think about electrifying
- 35:45heavy duty municipal buses or school buses,
- 35:49and how that can really improve
- 35:51the local air quality in a given location.
- 35:54Improving active transportation options
- 35:57is reducing carbon emissions,
- 35:58but it's also increasing physical activity
- 36:01and brings similar co-benefits from that greater activity.
- 36:10And again, supporting strong federal action
- 36:12to limit interstate pollution recognizing
- 36:14that our action alone in Connecticut
- 36:18doesn't completely solve our air pollution concerns.
- 36:23For personal action, you can sign up for an energy audit.
- 36:26And in the fall through with energy efficiency measures
- 36:29and weatherization, many supported by Connecticut policies
- 36:34can opt into renewable electricity,
- 36:36utilize active transportation
- 36:39and electrify your homes with heat pumps
- 36:42and your vehicles by switching to EVs.
- 36:49And finally, I'll wrap up with some
- 36:51of our large overarching report recommendations.
- 36:57The first is above all swift action to reduce
- 37:00and eliminate carbon emissions.
- 37:03Connecticut is committed to reducing greenhouse gases
- 37:05by 245% below 2001 levels by 2030 and 80% below by 2050.
- 37:15So we need to assure that this is accomplished
- 37:17and that Connecticut goes further
- 37:18toward achieving zero carbon future.
- 37:23Additionally, we need to continue
- 37:25to monitor these climate conditions
- 37:28and project trends in Connecticut, understanding how
- 37:32climate change is affecting our health
- 37:34and how we can respond accordingly,
- 37:37and provide this information to local decision-makers.
- 37:40Second, we can invest
- 37:42in the social determinants of health.
- 37:44So social factors like housing and education
- 37:48and employment are major drivers of population health.
- 37:51And we think that they're important possible synergies
- 37:53by taking action on climate change
- 37:57both mitigation and adaptation in ways that also invest
- 38:00in the social determinants of health.
- 38:02And you can think about that
- 38:04in terms of housing and neighborhood design,
- 38:07our food choices and our transportation options.
- 38:16We pointed principles of environmental justice
- 38:18to say that addressing climate change
- 38:19and the health inequities requires confronting
- 38:22their root causes by challenging historic
- 38:25and systemic burdens faced by low-income communities
- 38:27and communities of color.
- 38:29And that includes environmental pollution,
- 38:31income inequality, racism
- 38:33and inequitable access to power and resources.
- 38:37And so solutions need to be addressing
- 38:39these deeper drivers to be ultimately effective.
- 38:47We recommend, as I've mentioned before,
- 38:48pursuing actions that integrate climate mitigation
- 38:52and climate adaptation with immediate health co-benefits
- 38:55to fully utilize the benefits
- 38:58that can be achieved through policy action.
- 39:05We encourage building the capacity of health professionals
- 39:08and decision-makers to address climate and health
- 39:12knowing that many professionals weren't trained
- 39:15and many health professionals weren't trained
- 39:16in climate change, many other decision-makers
- 39:19weren't trained in climate change or health, perhaps.
- 39:22And that that kind of this knowledge gap is important
- 39:28for addressing these issues in the future.
- 39:35We recommend incorporating climate change
- 39:37into decision-making across sectors.
- 39:40So of course climate change is not a siloed issue.
- 39:44Its causes and its solutions go across all areas
- 39:49of government and a society, and it's important
- 39:52to take a intersectoral approach toward bringing solutions.
- 40:01And finally, we encourage incorporating public health
- 40:07into climate change decision-making.
- 40:10There's a concept in public health
- 40:12called a health and all policies approach
- 40:14which is that public health should be at the table
- 40:18in making decisions from transportation to urban planning
- 40:24because these importantly affect health as well.
- 40:27And we believe that this is important
- 40:30in addressing climate change,
- 40:32particularly on mitigation to make sure
- 40:35that these health benefits
- 40:37and health harms are fully addressed.
- 40:45That wraps up this speed through our report.
- 40:50Again, I encourage you to download the report
- 40:54or sign up for our newsletter on our website
- 40:57and I look forward to hearing
- 41:00your questions coming up, thanks again.
- 41:09All right, Myra, do you wanna-
- 41:13- Yeah, thanks so much for that, Laura.
- 41:16I'm gonna just do a reverse chronological order
- 41:19if that's okay as I scrolled through these.
- 41:22So it looks like we just had a question come in from Rachel.
- 41:26I'm wondering if you looked at any indicators
- 41:28related to agriculture or the food industry
- 41:32especially given the health co-benefits
- 41:34of plant based diets.
- 41:37- Good question, so the report was focused
- 41:39on climate impacts in particular.
- 41:43So we weren't looking explicitly at mitigation solutions.
- 41:51So we didn't look at,
- 41:52there wasn't something specifically on food
- 41:57though it's addressed sort of indirectly
- 41:59in a number of other indicators.
- 42:04- All right thank you. - And I just say Rob
- 42:05again as coauthor please feel free to jump in anytime.
- 42:15- All right, thank you, Laura.
- 42:17We have another question from Ursula.
- 42:23Are businesses mandated to recycle
- 42:25or invest in efficient energy systems?
- 42:29It looks like business or hospitals
- 42:30if I'm reading the question correctly.
- 42:33- [Ursula] Yes, thank you, that's what I meant.
- 42:36- [Myra] Thank you, Ursula.
- 42:38- That's a good question.
- 42:40I don't know the answer.
- 42:41I think Rob, maybe you know this
- 42:44if recycling is mandated.
- 42:45It may be at a municipal level
- 42:47that those kinds of decisions are made.
- 42:53Rob, do you know more about that in Connecticut?
- 42:59- All I can say is that there,
- 43:02if there aren't strong mandates, if there are any.
- 43:07Yeah, so essentially the answer is no.
- 43:11- Yeah, but it is worth noting that we have a colleague
- 43:14at the Center on Climate Change and Health Study,
- 43:16Sherman who does like world-renowned research
- 43:20on reducing unhealthcare sustainability
- 43:22and reducing the impact of the healthcare sector.
- 43:25And so there's really promising options in hospitals
- 43:32and others to reduce their consumption of plastics
- 43:39and other kinds of materials.
- 43:42- [Ursula] Yes, I don't think it's that regulation.
- 43:45I don't think we're gonna get anywhere.
- 43:47I finished the certificate program
- 43:49and I'm trying to introduce concepts to my colleagues
- 43:53and without regulation (laughing)
- 43:57they need someone from the top down like telling them
- 44:00they have to do this or they're gonna get fined.
- 44:02It's really sad but I'm still clamoring
- 44:04a way to make some impact (laughing).
- 44:07- Good, thank you.
- 44:12- Great, I see one from Sandy, is Connecticut
- 44:16considering more enticing EV credits in the future?
- 44:23- I hope so, but I don't know specifics.
- 44:32- Yeah, I haven't seen anything about that.
- 44:35- But Connecticut released a report
- 44:37an EV roadmap last year
- 44:38that set out a number of actions for the State to take.
- 44:42And it's also worth noting that Connecticut
- 44:46signed onto the transportation climate initiative
- 44:49which is the regional program to reduce emissions
- 44:53from the transportation sector.
- 44:54So if that is passed through the Connecticut legislature,
- 45:00it would produce revenue that could be used
- 45:04toward decarbonizing transportation.
- 45:08- Yeah, I'll just add to the EV issue.
- 45:12So there's a whole range of issues in terms
- 45:15of converting to the transportation sector to EVs,
- 45:20which is of course critical.
- 45:21So in addition to making the EV affordable,
- 45:27building the whole network of charging stations
- 45:30which I think maybe that's one of the things
- 45:32you were referring to learn
- 45:33that Connecticut is paying attention to.
- 45:35And then there's the technology is improving all the time
- 45:41for the fast charging occurs
- 45:45which is another critical factor.
- 45:47Like you don't wanna have to wait
- 45:49for six hours in the middle of your trip
- 45:52to get your car fully charged again.
- 45:56And that's also been improving.
- 45:59And then one more of course is the,
- 46:03how many miles you could travel on one charge
- 46:08and that's been improving as well
- 46:11where Tesla now has a car that's not yet really affordable.
- 46:17It's $75,000, but it has a range of 400 miles.
- 46:23And all of these things go together
- 46:25because as the infrastructure improves, et cetera,
- 46:32then as there's more demand for EVs
- 46:36then the price will start to come down
- 46:38to the economy of scale.
- 46:45- Exactly, thank you.
- 46:50Any more credits will help though, right?
- 46:52For us to move in that direction.
- 46:55- Yeah - Yeah, absolutely.
- 46:56- I really love that.
- 46:59- There's an early question here from Brenda,
- 47:04is there a way to categorize severe weather events
- 47:07such as climate change disasters or warming disasters?
- 47:10So it seems like labeling, how do we do that
- 47:14or how can we do that?
- 47:22- I don't know if I quite understand the question
- 47:28of how do we categorize,
- 47:30Brenda, do you wanna specify that?
- 47:34- Oh okay. - Go ahead.
- 47:35- [Brenda] I was just thinking more about the (indistinct).
- 47:39(Brenda mumbles)
- 47:46You know these disasters, but I know
- 47:49that it's probably a challenge to try to figure out
- 47:53how to separate or define how you can go about that.
- 47:58But for me, it's just about people are onboarded
- 48:02to the fact that these severe weather events are not common
- 48:06because the weather is in front of you.
- 48:09- Yeah, no, I think it's a really great point.
- 48:14I think we also have kind of a shifting baseline
- 48:16of accepting what seems normal.
- 48:19When if you look back in time,
- 48:21it's certainly quite extraordinary.
- 48:23And there are studies that are looking at,
- 48:30that look at the the climate contribution
- 48:33for a given large scale event,
- 48:35but generally that kind of connection
- 48:38for each individual one is difficult to do.
- 48:42I'll mention one interesting campaign
- 48:45that a number of groups are putting forward
- 48:48which is to name heat waves.
- 48:52So in the way that we name hurricanes
- 48:56giving a name to heat waves
- 48:58to show how they're significant
- 49:02and that they are becoming more prevalent.
- 49:08Rob do you wanna add anything there?
- 49:12- No, I was gonna mention the heat waves too.
- 49:14I think that would be a nice step
- 49:18in the right direction to kind of emphasis,
- 49:20it would really help to emphasize
- 49:22their importance more if they gave them a name.
- 49:26- Yeah.
- 49:29- Great, thank you both.
- 49:31We have a question from Matthew.
- 49:34How can we find similar reports from other States?
- 49:39- Well, it's one of the reasons that
- 49:41we gave this webinar was to encourage others
- 49:44to produce similar reports.
- 49:50I'll mention that there are a number of cities and States
- 49:53around the country that are funded
- 49:54through the CDC to have a climate
- 49:58and health program in their health department.
- 50:00And through that, they've created reports looking at
- 50:05climate impacts and projecting impacts in the future.
- 50:08So if you live in one of those States,
- 50:10if you look up something like CDC climate and health program
- 50:15you can see reports there.
- 50:20Wisconsin, I'll mention to Wisconsin,
- 50:24some of our extended colleagues in Wisconsin
- 50:28just put out a really great report for their State.
- 50:30And it's especially focused on inspiring
- 50:33health professionals to take action on climate change.
- 50:38- Yeah, I think as far as we know
- 50:40there aren't other reports, do you agree with that, Laura?
- 50:45- I think using this indicator approach is unique.
- 50:53- [Jacy] I had a followup question, Jacy McGaw-Cesaire here.
- 50:56I wanted to on that note know
- 50:59if there was a kind of scorecard
- 51:02in the process or the pipeline
- 51:04to the compare States responses to climate change
- 51:09and health, and maybe having like an NCD
- 51:15but for States to compare that.
- 51:19- It's a great idea.
- 51:22I don't know of any existing work on that.
- 51:28It's probably also worth mentioning
- 51:30that one inspiration for this report is the Lancet countdown
- 51:33on health and climate change
- 51:34which is a global effort to assess climate impacts
- 51:37and climate action from a health perspective.
- 51:41And that does some of that tracking.
- 51:45Like one of their indicators I think is looking at countries
- 51:48that have a health adaptation, climate adaptation plan.
- 51:52So you can imagine doing something like that in the US too.
- 51:55I think that's a great point.
- 52:03- Great, thanks Laura, let's see.
- 52:06I have a question from Susan.
- 52:07Are there any municipalities or towns that are doing
- 52:10a better job incorporating
- 52:11these concerns into their planning?
- 52:14- Brings up a great program to reference
- 52:16which is sustainable CT.
- 52:18And so that's a voluntary program where municipalities
- 52:21can opt to join in and then become certified
- 52:26by taking on different sustainability actions.
- 52:30And those have a whole different range.
- 52:33Sustainability actions is not just about climate change
- 52:36and there are some that relate to climate and health
- 52:42but we would have actually been chatting
- 52:45with them a little bit about how that could be built out
- 52:48to make sure that municipalities are really acting
- 52:51on these issues of climate and health.
- 52:54Oh, great and Myra put in a link to the organizations.
- 53:00- A question here from Jeremy specific
- 53:03to the Lyme disease indicator,
- 53:07were any factors considered into why the total number
- 53:10of Lyme disease cases have been decreasing?
- 53:16- Rob do you wanna grab? - I can do that.
- 53:17- Yeah, please. - Yeah.
- 53:19So well first I'll say that we then try
- 53:24to rigorously figure that out
- 53:28but we have some informed guesses
- 53:31about why there's actually been a decrease in Lyme disease.
- 53:34And the main guess is that it's because,
- 53:37over the last decade or so, there's been a lot
- 53:39more awareness about Lyme disease in the State
- 53:43and about the protective measures
- 53:45that people could take to avoid infection.
- 53:51So I think that's our best guess about why.
- 53:55That was one of the initially surprising trends.
- 53:59We fully expected to see an increase in Lyme disease,
- 54:02but you have to go with the data
- 54:05and that's what we saw.
- 54:07And I don't think it's an artifact in any way
- 54:10because if anything, there would be an increase in actually,
- 54:23not missing Lyme disease cases as we proceed
- 54:27in time as opposed to the opposite.
- 54:29There's no reason why there'd be more cases
- 54:32missed in recent years than in former years.
- 54:40- Great, thanks, Rob.
- 54:42We might have time for one or two more questions.
- 54:45I see one here from from Mike Pascucilla,
- 54:50can you discuss the New England agreement
- 54:52with other States, for example,
- 54:54Rhode Island is one of the leaders in the Northeast?
- 55:01- Mike, do you wanna...
- 55:02I'm not totally sure what you mean by that.
- 55:05Do you wanna specify?
- 55:12Oop you're on mute.
- 55:24- Okay, of course, Dr Bozzi excellent report.
- 55:29As I put in my message,
- 55:31it's not just research it's reality.
- 55:33What I like about this report is
- 55:36it has these indicators, things that people can relate to.
- 55:39I know my colleagues and I have used it
- 55:41and we pushed it out to our community.
- 55:44We actually got some feedback from few of our community,
- 55:47so it's a great report.
- 55:49And as far as I know, I do not think there is
- 55:52another State that has done something like this.
- 55:55We're may have some version of it
- 55:57but not this comprehensive, so kudos (indistinct).
- 56:04So I have to say this, the reason why we
- 56:07have lower Lyme disease rates,
- 56:08because us at the local health department
- 56:10are doing a good job, having a little fun here.
- 56:14You don't get to have lot of fun.
- 56:16(indistinct) Interesting is to see what happens next year
- 56:21and the following year now
- 56:22that our trails are packed, right?
- 56:24So that is probably gonna change.
- 56:28So going back to the question about the newly pack.
- 56:31As I understand, and the governor through the G3
- 56:36is working with other States.
- 56:37And I heard about this
- 56:39and there's been some newspaper articles
- 56:41but I haven't seen anything substantial.
- 56:44And I know the governor has been working
- 56:47with some other States and some climate change
- 56:49trying to sync, that's what our governor is trying to do.
- 56:52And I just was wondering if you seen anything,
- 56:55I know it's happening
- 56:56but I'm not sure it's actually in a report yet.
- 57:02- Well, first so I should give Mike some thanks and credit.
- 57:06So he leads the local health department
- 57:10at the East Shore Health District
- 57:12and really leads on bringing climate change
- 57:15to the local health districts in Connecticut.
- 57:18So thank you for your work.
- 57:20And does it well while addressing COVID.
- 57:24So I don't know.
- 57:27I think the New England governors and in Northeast governors
- 57:29are always collaborating on things
- 57:30and I think fairly see eye to eye
- 57:32on climate change issues.
- 57:35The one that maybe has been
- 57:36in the papers recently is what I mentioned
- 57:38about the transportation climate initiative.
- 57:40So this is addressing
- 57:41and so far three States have signed on Connecticut,
- 57:44Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
- 57:46So that may be what has come up, but I agree.
- 57:52In these small States, again, it's like the air pollution.
- 57:56We are very impacted by what happens around us
- 58:00and also that there is an efficiency of working together.
- 58:03And so if that can happen and now particularly supported
- 58:07by federal government actions and incentives
- 58:11I think that that's where we need to go.
- 58:15- Great, thank you.
- 58:20- Great, so it looks like we're out of time,
- 58:24but if you have any questions again,
- 58:30you can find my contact information or I'll put it here,
- 58:34feel free to follow up.
- 58:36I'm so happy to have a really engaged audience.
- 58:40Thank you again for joining us
- 58:42and thank you to all of you for your interest
- 58:44in your work in this area.
- 58:49Great, take care.
- 58:52- [Michael] Have a good weekend, thank you.
- 58:54- [Rob] Yeah, bye everyone.
- 58:56- [Paula] Excellent job,
- 58:57thank you so much for sharing in.