Climate change most dangerous for Nashville’s children

• Air pollution represents an imminent threat to children.
• Many Tennesseans are increasingly concerned about the threats posed by climate change.
• It is imperative that we understand the risks of climate change and take them seriously.

As a pediatrician, I have devoted my career to keeping children healthy and helping them return to health after illness or injury.

I feel compelled to speak on their behalf because children are among our most vulnerable populations and often without a voice.

Air pollution represents an imminent threat and a perfect example of how children are more vulnerable than adults.

Children breathe faster than adults, which means they breathe a proportionately greater volume of air than adults. As a result, children inhale more pollutants per pound of body weight.

Medical research has shown that the rapidly developing lungs of a child may be permanently affected by air pollution.

Indeed, air pollution increases the risk of developing asthma, the most common chronic disease of childhood, the most frequent reason for childhood hospitalizations and a lifelong disease without a cure.

Additionally, these pollutants lead to an increase in asthma attacks, which are responsible for 9 million visits to health care professionals like me each year.

These vulnerabilities are likely to become more pronounced in the coming decades due to increased heat related to climate change.

In Tennessee, we’ve already seen hotter temperatures, an increase in severe weather events and longer periods of drought.

As a result, many Tennesseans are increasingly concerned, not just about the threats posed by climate change to the spruce trees of the Smokies, but about the serious risks that climate change poses to the health of our friends, families and neighbors.

As medical professionals, it is our duty to raise awareness around the range of health impacts of climate change. According to the National Climate Assessment, climate change will mean an increase in the number of days when the temperature rises above 95 degrees Fahrenheit in Tennessee, leading to increased risk of heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke.

Ozone levels are also expected to increase as temperatures rise, triggering more asthma attacks. Extreme weather events, like the major flood our city saw in 2010, are also expected to become more frequent as precipitation becomes more intermittent, yet more intense, leading to increased risk of injury and illness. Although gradual, day-to-day increases in air pollution may be less obvious than the impacts of a major flood, these increases do result in more asthma attacks in children and adults. And guess what? Asthma care already costs the U.S. $56 billion annually.

In 2009, The Lancet, one of the world’s most-respected medical journals, called climate change “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” This is a profound statement when one considers other notable health threats such as cancer and diabetes.

As parents and doctors everywhere know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. By taking steps now to curb carbon emissions, a primary driver of climate change, we can protect our communities from experiencing the worst impacts of catastrophic climate change.

That work starts with open and informed conversations about the current and predicted risks to public health.

That’s why public education events like Vanderbilt University’s recent two-day forum on the Clean Power Plan, our nation’s first regulations aimed at reducing climate pollution from power plants, are vitally important.

I was privileged to speak at this conference where doctors, lawyers, scholars, business leaders and policymakers had the opportunity to discuss the health threats from climate change, as well as potential policy solutions.

It is imperative that we understand the risks of climate change and take them seriously. Beyond all the politicization of climate change, there’s solid medical consensus on the public health threats facing us. Extreme weather and air pollution have a considerable effect on cardiovascular, respiratory and mental health.

Vulnerable populations, including children and the elderly, are at greatest risk.

We doctors are in. Now, we need responsible and science-based policy to match.

Dr. Donald H. Arnold, is an associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University specializing in pediatric emergency medicine.