May 24, 2023 – Climate change poses a risk to current and future generations of children with asthma, according to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The report, highlighted in a May 8 Connecticut Public Radio article, said that climate change is leading to longer pollen seasons and more air pollution, two factors that contribute to worsening asthma.
Aaron Bernstein, former interim director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, now serving as director of the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, was quoted in the article. “For children whose asthma is triggered by pollen—which is a good proportion of children with asthma—it’s really hard to avoid pollen. It’s kind of everywhere,” he said.
Bernstein said that asthma symptoms could be managed by tracking pollen forecasts, changing clothes after being outside, and taking medicine.
He added that the EPA’s report highlights the importance of combatting climate change. “It helps us understand how much more we really stand to gain by getting off of fossil fuels and reducing emissions faster,” he said.
Listen to or read the Connecticut Public Radio article: Climate change will worsen CT kids’ asthma and overall health, EPA report says
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