The medical response to climate change

Abstract

The growing mass of colorless and odorless greenhouse gases high in earth's atmosphere may be about as far away from a hospital bedside or clinic exam room as any concern imaginable. Despite this, the challenges of climate change have progressively moved nearer to the work of all those in health care. From sinister storms, fires, and heat waves that imperil our patients, facilities, and supplies to the outsized contribution of medical care to air pollution, the motivations and needs for a medical response to climate change are many and clear.