- So we're going to change gears a bit,
and sort of cover the planetary aspects,
and we have a nice panel
covering a broad set of topics.
It's obvious we can't cover
every aspect of climate change,
you got a good lesson
on emerging pathogens,
so I'm going to give a quick
five-minute sort of background.
I want to start with of
course the planet. Right?
Which one can argue is going to survive.
Whether we're on it or not is
maybe a different question.
(audience laughing)
But the planet, as you
know from your ecology
is really composed of components.
So, clearly the biosphere
is significantly affecting
the other spheres.
Now, they all affect each other. Right?
Volcanoes, the geosphere,
hurricanes, weather.
But, of course, it's the
biosphere that's developed,
to the point we're now,
we're stressing the entire system.
And of course these
are all interconnected.
So talk about modeling,
can you imagine all these possibilities?
That's why we sort of
compartmentalize our studies
in just doing pathogens.
Just doing toxic waste
sites.Just doing waste water.
Now, of course when you
look at climate change,
of course, the main driver,
carbon dioxide increases
have a multitude of effects.
You see here, just a couple
of the ones I'm listing,
but of course, when you try
to sort of draw this panel,
and I don't expect you to
sort of fully understand this
but you'd go nuts, right?
If you had a huge board
and started connecting all these,
these dots, you see how complicated
any type of model would be.
So, each of us sort of
focus on different box,
maybe even different colored box,
and we are going to
touch upon some of these.
We're not going to talk much about
the air pollution effects today,
but that may be for another time.
Now, this was a great slide.
Dr. Plow, I'm not sure you're still here,
thank you for showing it.
But of course it's a bigger slide,
it's by George Luber
from the Climate Change Director at CDC.
Unfortunately he was
demoted or sort of moved out
of that position.
Very sad.
But he came up with this diagram
and it's a freebie,
this goes to the CDC.
And most people see a static image.
And the beauty of this
is that if you stop that
circle at any point,
stop it right there.
Carbon dioxide increases,
increasing allergens,
respiratory impacts.
There are people just
studying that component,
and then if you stop rising temperatures,
changes in disease,
vector ecology,
and this is what you learn earlier today.
So, it is a large
interdisciplinary field of study.
There's room for everybody,
from the climatologists,
to the ecologists,
to the plant scientists,
all parts of this.
Now, I'm a chemicals guy, I'm a soils guy,
I'm a toxic waste fellow,
so, I am particularly interested
in what happens sort of down here.
What happens when temperatures go up,
flooding goes up, weather changes,
and how does that affect
the mobilization of toxins.
Specifically, down here.
What happens when an
entire city gets flooded,
where does that sewage go?
We'll get a discussion on that.
And you know,
we'll get a discussion on that.
We have a talk on that.
Angela Silverman, Professor
Silverman, will talk
about some of this.
So, it really is a complicated thing,
but keep in mind the bottom line of this,
is of course, a human disease.
So, you may not have
thought of what happens
when a tornado hits a village.
What happens to the gas stations?
Where does that liquid go?
Right?
Cause we are all responding
to the emergency,
but after the emergency, and
the recovery, and the cleanup,
you have toxins left over,
and they need to be studied,
and of course, minimized.
So, looking at these drivers,
and how they move to exposure pathways,
finally into disease.
And that's sort of what we are gonna cover
in the next while.
Now, before I introduce
the speakers for the panel,
this is a new sort of angle,
a new paradigm, sort of CDC.
And one that I really prefer
because it is all about resilience.
We can't stop climate
change, temperature, right?
There are some people,
thermo, inertia, right?
The longest day of the year is June 21st,
but August is the hottest month.
You know, go figure.
So, what I am saying is
the CO2 in the atmosphere
has already changed and it
will continue to have effects
even if we stop today.
So, we have to be resilient
and that is the key, I
think, in public health.
And it's not just climate resilience,
but also hospitals.
Every single profession needs
to be able to quickly
change, and accommodate,
and solve problems.
It's not a stagnant system, right?
We always hope that
our professions are rather static,
but we know quite differently.
They are dynamic, and they are changing,
and we need to be ready for that change.
Now, that's my mantra most of the time,
is get ready for change.
You know, next year, something horrible
is going to happen in New York.
I have no idea what it is,
but you know it is going to happen,
and it probably something
in your life too.
Don't be afraid of it,
but be ready for it.
