Hurricane Milton: The Latest Climate-Related Threat to American Health
We need to understand, anticipate, and make plans to mitigate long-term adverse health effects from climate-related extreme weather events.
By Mahshid Abir
Hurricane Milton is about to make landfall in Florida as a category 4 hurricane. Milton has already triggered multiple tornadoes, thunderstorms, and heavy rainfall.
Less than two weeks ago, Helene made landfall in the southeast United States as a level 4 hurricane causing devastation along a 500-mile path across multiple southeastern states and Hurricane Milton is headed for Florida’s west coast. These storms are extreme weather events and part of a growing trend in climate related threats that pose immediate as well as long-term health risks.
Major hurricanes — category 3 or above — have doubled in the Atlantic Ocean since 1980. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an 85 percent chance that the United States would experience an above-normal hurricane season this year. But even as authorities deal with the death and destruction brought by Helene and prepare for Milton, the other threats attributable to climate change must not be forgotten.
While countries work to reverse the drivers of climate change — including reducing greenhouse gases — there is a critical need to understand, anticipate, and develop plans to mitigate the long-term adverse health effects from climate-related extreme weather events.
There is a critical need to understand, anticipate, and develop plans to mitigate the long-term adverse health effects from climate-related extreme weather events.
Climate-mediated extreme weather events have health consequences — especially for children, pregnant women, and older adults. A new RAND study shows an increase in asthma and Alzheimer’s disease prevalence secondary to climate change and an increase in mortality among people with these conditions and those with cardiovascular disease by the year 2040.
Not only is health care demand expected to increase as a result of climate change, the study predicts an increase in demand for medicines needed to treat asthma and Alzheimer’s likely putting a strain on future medical supply chains.
The mechanisms behind the apparent adverse effects of climate change on human health are not entirely understood. However, the need for pre-planning for these events to prevent poor health outcomes is clear. Especially among the most vulnerable populations, it is critical to develop and implement mitigating strategies. These include:
- Finding ways of helping people cool down in the setting of extreme heat — which increases the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes — without the need for electricity as some populations may not have access to air-conditioning and heat waves may occur concurrently with power outages.
- Identifying mechanisms to help people maintain access to clean drinking water — or to purify available water — to help prevent waterborne infectious diseases, dehydration, and secondary consequences such as renal failure.
- Helping protect people — especially those with respiratory disease — from exposure to wildfire smoke by encouraging mask wearing or installation of HEPA filters in homes of high-risk populations.
Climate change is modifying the hazard risks posed to different states. For example, heat waves are occurring in places that historically did not experience extreme heat. Lyme disease has become prevalent in new geographic areas and the transmission timeline has expanded. In addition to research focused on understanding the impact of climate change on health at a national level, and understanding the underlying mechanisms, the map of extreme weather-related events and vector-borne diseases needs to be redrawn based on modified risks in the setting of climate change.
Climate-mediated extreme weather events have health consequences — especially for children, pregnant women, and older adults.
Climate change has resulted in increased risk of worsening drought in many parts of the United States — with more intense, frequent, and longer droughts expected in the southeast. Heat waves have increased from an average of two per-year to six per-year between the 1960s and 2020s. The annual average acres burned in the United States as a result of wildfires nearly doubled since the 2000s compared to the 1990s — largely attributed to climate change.
Hurricane Milton is just the latest severe Atlantic storm to strike. The deaths from Helene have already surpassed 200 people. Many homes and business were destroyed leaving Helene survivors without power and with limited access to food and drinking water. Milton will undoubtedly add to Helene’s devastation — compounding likely adverse health effects.
Not only do hurricanes pose a risk of injury and exposure, secondary flooding poses risks of drowning and contracting waterborne diseases. Further, poor access to food and drinking water can lead to exacerbation of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Many hurricane victims may not have access to their daily medications, putting them at increased risk of acute illness.
Developing strategies to protect Americans based on this knowledge will be critical to ensuring health and safety and saving lives.
Mahshid Abir is an emergency physician and senior policy researcher at nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
This originally appeared on rand.org on October 9, 2024.
