Physicians, nurses and other front-line providers know firsthand the health impacts of climate change. Air pollution exacerbates asthma and emphysema; extreme heat worsens heart and kidney conditions; and rising temperatures increase the occurrence of a wide range of illnesses, including mosquito-borne infections and depression.
That’s why it’s so shocking to learn that health care itself is a major contributor to climate change.
In the United States, the health sector is responsible for nearly 9 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gases. Researchers estimate that the environmental harm caused by medical care ultimately costs as many lives as preventable medical errors, which are responsible for as many as 98,000 deaths annually. This is in direct conflict with the mission of the healing professions.
Brian Chesebro, an Oregon-based anesthesiologist who serves as medical director of environmental stewardship at Providence, had this “aha” moment in 2016. At the time, he told me, he was going through a period of “eco-grief” about the state of the Earth.