On the Front Lines of Climate Health Effects in North Carolina

Health and the Environment in North Carolina

“…In addition to the local issues facing North Carolina residents, such as coal-fired powerplants, coal ash impoundments, CAFOs, and emerging pollutants like Gen X, the health effects of global warming may be of particular significance to our state. Climate change over the coming decades is likely to increase rates of allergies, asthma, heart disease, and cancer, among other illnesses [19]. Also, diseases that were previously found only in warmer areas of the world may show up increasingly in North Carolina, where residents have limited opportunities to develop natural defenses.…”

“…Dr. Greg Kearney of East Carolina University provides an original article on this topic titled Climate Change and Public Health through the Lens of Rural, Eastern North Carolina [18]. Also in the theme of global and environmental health, the impact of climate change on North Carolina's health, particularly regarding natural disasters, is described by Lauren Thie, environmental program consultant at the North Carolina Division of Public Health, and Kimberly Thigpen Tart, health science policy analyst at the NIEHS [19]. In a sidebar article, Dr. Margaret Sugg of Appalachian State University describes how extreme heat events are some of the most dangerous climate-change-related disasters and how they affect health in ways one might not expect [20].…”