As we continue to dive into the impacts of climate change on our lives, we look at the impacts that climate change can have on our health care system. By looking back, we know that our overall health can be affected by the results of climate change, which itself adds strain to our nation's healthcare system on handling these new health problems.
The many effects of climate change can create serious health issues for people (heat-related illnesses from rising temperatures, respiratory problems from pollution, etc.), and it can also strain health care systems beyond their means. Intense weather events that occur more frequently as a result of climate change (tornadoes, floods, wildfires, etc.) can cause hospitals to shut down, run at a limited capacity, or become flooded with people in need of health care. Many of the previous effects that climate change can have on the environment and people in general that we discussed can lead directly into issues in the health care system. The health care system itself contributes a good amount to the climate change issue, as studies show that hospitals and medical centers have a significant hand in greenhouse gas emissions. Arguments have been presented to combat this issue in health care in order to help the overburdening of the health care system. That particular argument being that if hospitals and medical centers worked to limit carbon output, then they would be doing their part to limit climate change and curbing all these issues from occurring in the first place. It cannot be just up to these particular actors to prevent this regardless. We have to continue to work together to combat climate change and prevent these issues from worsening. As we work to combat climate change, we can help our own healthcare system in a way that we might never notice.