The staggering, often-overlooked financial costs to our health from
fossil-fuel-generated air pollution and climate change surpass $820 billion in
health costs each year in the United States alone — a burden falling heaviest
on vulnerable communities but affecting everyone across the country, a new
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
report
shows.
The Costs of Inaction: The Economic Burden of Fossil Fuels and Climate Change
on Health in the United States synthesizes several dozen scientific research
papers and is among the first to tally a broad financial toll on public health
from climate-change-driven extreme weather, dangerous heat waves, spikes in air
pollution and increases in vector-borne diseases.
These impacts are projected to escalate, along with corresponding harm to public
health in the US. Taking bold action to cut fossil fuel use and climate
pollution could avoid hundreds of billions of dollars in health costs, the
report shows.
The report, produced by the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health,
Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action and NRDC, will be
presented to health professionals on May 22 at the Medical Society
Consortium’s annual
conference.
“The science is clear: The dangerous effects of climate change — and their
profound costs to our health and our pocketbooks — will worsen each year we fail
to curb the pollution that is destabilizing our planet,” said Dr. Vijay
Limaye, report co-author and a climate and health scientist at NRDC. “We face
a choice: continue down this dead-end path of inaction and soaring healthcare
bills. Or make smart investments now in cost-effective solutions that will
prevent millions of people in our country — especially the most vulnerable —
from suffering injuries, illness and premature death. The time to act is now.”
While critics often assert that curbing climate change would be too expensive,
the report reveals that the cost of inaction means that we’re paying far more
than $820 billion (about $2,500 per person in the US) in health costs — every
year — from fossil fuel air pollution and climate change impacts. These impacts
are linked to heavy burdens of premature deaths, hospitalizations, serious
injuries, mental health ailments, lost wages, missed days of work and other
health problems.
The report finds that all US citizens are affected by these climate health costs
— even those whose health is not directly harmed — because government health
insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid, supported by taxpayers, pay
the largest portion of the costs. Millions of people in especially vulnerable
and disadvantaged communities, often least able to afford the extra expense, are
shouldering most of the cost burden of health care, which widens existing
inequality in our country.
“The benefits of climate action are tremendous: Climate solutions can save lives
and save money while also reducing the risk of future climate change-related
damages,” said report co-author Donald De Alwis, research analyst at the
Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. “Actions small or large from
individuals, health professionals, and policymakers can guide us towards a
future that is greener, healthier, and more prosperous. The health of current
and future generations stands to benefit, the economic rewards are significant,
and the costs of sitting on our hands are immense and growing.”
Estimating the national health cost of fossil-fuel-driven climate change is
challenging because of limited data availability on injuries and illnesses
resulting from specific weather extremes, and the current cost estimates are
conservative as a result. US government estimates of the yearly costs of climate
and weather disasters omit the health-related costs and focus instead on
property, crop and infrastructure losses.
Despite this gap, peer-reviewed literature indicates that people in the US face
more than $820 billion in health damages annually from burning fossil fuels and
climate change-related events. The report provides critical details on
overlooked key threats and costs:
-
Air pollution: Between soot air pollution and smog created by
burning fossil fuels, and rising temperatures and CO~2~ concentrations
increasing the intensity and spread of pollen season, air
pollution-related health care costs account for roughly $839 billion
per year.
-
Vector-borne infectious diseases: Climate-fueled warmer temperatures
increase the populations and range of ticks and mosquitos, which carry
Lyme disease and West Nile Virus — leading to premature deaths, and
hundreds of thousands of new cases annually. Total annual health costs:
$860 million- $2.7 billion.
-
Extreme weather and climate events: Between climate-change-driven
higher temperatures (which can cause heat stroke and worsen a range of
cardiovascular ailments, both of which increase death rates), increased
incidence of and range of wildfires (wildfire smoke exposure caused
6,200 respiratory hospital visits and 1,700 PM2.5 related deaths in a recent
year) and increased incidence and intensity of hurricanes (2012’s
Hurricane Sandy alone caused 273 premature deaths, and more than 12,000
hospital admissions, emergency room and outpatient visits), the US incurs
over $19.5 billion in health care costs annually.
For a deeper dive into the data, download the report here.
The report concludes with a series of recommendations that health professionals
and policy makers can implement to stem runaway climate health costs.
“The findings of this report create important new opportunities by showing the
vast amounts of money we can save as a nation by greatly accelerating the
transition to a clean energy economy,” said report senior adviser Dr. Edward
Maibach, director of George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change
Communications. “As an added bonus, nearly everyone in America will enjoy
cleaner air and water, and better health.”
The good news is, despite four years of the scrapping of many federal clean air
regulations by the previous administration, mayors of cities throughout the US
and around the world are still working to achieve the C40’s 2017 goal of
ensuring that major areas of their cities are zero emission by
2030.
And major private sector players including
Biogen
and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health
recognize that human health is interdependent with the health of communities and
the planet, and have put forth bold commitments to address not only their own
climate impacts but link their climate actions to increased equity and health. Here's to a light at the end of a smog-filled tunnel.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published May 21, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST