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As the impacts of climate change become more frequent and extreme, Oklahoma is likely to see warming temperatures, and increased variability of precipitation events and storms, which will significantly impact the health and prosperity of Oklahomans. These climate impacts will affect respiratory health, food security, and the local agricultural economy. Warning signs like this led the Tulsa City and County Health Department (TCCHD) to recognize the health threats of climate change, and to commit to doing something about it. TCCHD Environmental Health Services Department (EHSD) was particularly concerned about the potential for warming temperatures and increased variability of rainfall to change the patterns of mosquitos in the Tulsa area.

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Climate change impacts all aspects of public health, from disaster recovery to disease control to social networks to issues of equity and access. San Francisco’s Climate and Health Program, started in 2010, is one of the most comprehensive models of what health departments can do to start planning for action on climate change. To learn more about the city’s framework, we asked Ms. Comerford about challenges faced, lessons learned, advice for other departments, and more. Comerford describes the report’s distribution as “really just the tip of the iceberg” in acting on climate change.

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President Trump’s Executive Order on “Energy Independence” threatens the health of all Americans by undermining efforts to defend our communities, our country, and our planet from the devastating impacts of climate change – the greatest health threat of the 21st century. We cannot wait to address climate change and its effects on our health. Trump’s Executive Order (EO) thwarts efforts to shift towards clean, renewable energy, favors dirty energy, and puts the health and well-being of Americans last—especially the health of those most vulnerable.

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Read about Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s work to address climate change, the first in a series of blogs highlighting the climate change and health work of Local Health Departments. Local health departments are increasingly stepping up to address climate change, each in their own way. Local health departments (LHDs) have a critical role to play in addressing climate change. LHDs are mandated to protect and promote the health of residents in their jurisdiction, and provide critical health services and prevention programs especially to the most vulnerable and in under-resourced communities. LHDs also have working relationships with the many other government agencies who shape living conditions that interact with climate change to impact health.

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President Trump signed two Executive Orders cracking down on immigration, which effectively build the wall along our Southern border, militarize it with more border agents, allow ICE to access local and state law enforcement records, and increase the rate at which people are detained and deported. Additionally, it is anticipated that he will sign an order soon that “would indefinitely block Syrian refugees from entering the United States and bar all refugees from the rest of the world for at least 120 days”. He is rapidly making good on his campaign promises.

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Last weekend, following President Trump’s inauguration, people all over the world came together en masse to support human rights and human dignity, donning pink hats, cardboard signs, and colorful language. Many participating in Saturday’s Women’s March linked the protection of the planet to the protection of health and human rights.

It is increasingly clear that we – as professionals, individuals, and communities that care about the current and future health of our people and planet – will need to fight like never before to preserve and promote health and equity in the era of climate change and Trump.

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Staff in the MHealth Nurse-Practitioner Clinic were already accustomed to leading change: as a nurse-led partnership between the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, the MHealth system, and UMPhysicians, the clinic was launched as one of only a few nurse-led clinics in the metropolitan area. So the six-month old clinic was quick to engage another partner in launching an effort to address climate change as a health issue.

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Every September emergency preparedness organizations from FEMA to your local Fire Department make a point of trying to draw public attention to the need to “Get Ready” for everything from hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, heat waves, power outages and human caused disasters like terrorist attacks. September is National Preparedness Month.

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John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Stephen Mather were champions for the establishment and preservation of the National Park Service, believing that the natural beauty of the United States landscape should be protected and preserved for future generations. However, they could never have predicted within a century the extent to which climate change would threaten these national treasures. Read on to learn how climate change is impacting National Parks, human health, and what can be done to combat it.

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