Doctors and nurses are at the forefront of seeing the direct correlation between climate change and climate-related health ailments. Dr. Cheryl Holder is the Co-Chair of Florida Clinicians for Climate Action where she works to increase awareness about the impact of climate change on our most vulnerable communities.
Dr. Holder shares stories about the patients she was seeing, and the developing pattern of worsening conditions through no fault of their own. She discovered that the majority of patients lived in poor, under-served communities, and were unable to advocate for themselves. She encourages medical professionals to listen to their patients, understand their environment, and fight for them.
She believes that what we do to help the most vulnerable, we do to serve all of us.
Links:
Premature mortality related to the United States cross-state air pollution – https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1983-8
Half of U.S. deaths related to air pollution are linked to out-of-state emissions – https://news.mit.edu/2020/half-us-deaths-air-pollution-out-state-0212
Environmental Defense Fund Air Quality Guide – https://volofoundation.org/news/environmental-defense-fund-air-quality-guide/
State of the Air – https://www.stateoftheair.org/
Project Drawdown Book – https://drawdown.org/the-book
Florida Clinicians for Climate Action – https://states.ms2ch.org/fl/fcca/
Contact Dr.Cheryl Holder – https://medicine.fiu.edu/about/faculty-and-staff/people/clholder.html
TEDTalk – The Link Between Climate Change, Health, and Poverty – https://www.tedmed.com/speakers/show?id=772335
