"Evidence Of Pollution's Toll Requires The Medical Community's Attention" - Philip Landrigan, MD & Robert Wright, MD
Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, professor of environmental medicine and public health and dean for global health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Robert Wright, MD, professor and system chair for the department of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai explain that global warming is doing far more than changing topography and weather. It is also having a series of devastating, detrimental effects on human health. As noxious greenhouse gases cause a warming of the atmosphere, that change in the climate, in turn, exacerbates pollution that is literally killing millions of people every year. Warmer weather is also triggering longer and more severe pollen seasons, increasing the incidence of allergies, causing havoc for allergy sufferers, and exacerbating symptoms for those with asthma. As infections, asthma, and allergy rates rise, so will the burden of these illnesses on our health care system. All of us, regardless of income or geography, will become more and more vulnerable to these diseases. For the protection of public health, we must make good on our commitment and participate in the One Planet Coalition that is fighting climate change.
- Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, Professor, Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Pediatrics, Dean for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Robert O. Wright, MD, Professor, System Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director, Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research