PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — From our perch on this side of the country, many of us gazed with horrified fascination at the recent temperature maps that seared an unprepared Pacific Northwest. The region is grieving the loss of life and wildfire damage that many experts believe are the effects of the climate crisis on global weather.
While steering clear of regurgitated apocalyptic headlines, climate change is absolutely affecting the Philadelphia region as well this summer — and potentially, our health — in more subtle ways.
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Scientific trend data across the 40 most populated metropolitan areas from the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated as many as 150,000 additional Americans will die of heat-related illnesses by the end of this century due to excessive heat caused by climate change. Its Killer Summer Heat report predicted 700 additional deaths in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, NOAA records show the East Coast is getting rainier, and that extra moisture in the air traps heat that keeps us from cooling off after dark as much as we should. Average overnight lows in New Jersey and Delaware are 3 degrees higher since 1990, the biggest increases in the nation and a contributor to a spike in summer-spoiling pests.
As we creep into the height of the summer, there are three big climate change-induced nuisances to look out for.
Ticks
We’re in the thick of tick season, and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell warns that above-average precipitation and warm temperatures this year have already led to a boom in the blood-sucker population.
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“As climate change continues to warm our winters, we’re seeing higher tick populations surviving months that used to be too cold to survive,” McDonnell said. “As the number of ticks continues to rise, so do the odds of tick-borne disease transmission. We must remain diligent, both in protecting ourselves from bites but also in seeking long-term solutions to address climate change.”
The tri-state area leads the nation for Lyme disease, which causes fever, chills, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash. If untreated, the infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.
Poison ivy
Speaking of skin rashes, let’s refresh your knowledge of poison ivy.
Higher levels of carbon dioxide are not only making poison ivy more lush and abundant, but researchers say it’s making its rash-causing surface oil, called urushiol, more toxic.
The oil is on every part of the plant — leaves, stems, berries, even the roots. About 85% of people develop an allergic reaction when they come in contact with it, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, and it’s a nasty one: intense itching, swelling, blisters, gross drainage and red scabby skin that can take weeks to heal, even with prescription medication.
And that’s a mild case.
Ragweed
If you’re not a hiking enthusiast, you may feel like you can avoid ticks and poison ivy altogether — even though both enter suburban gardens via foraging deer and seeds spread by birds, respectively.
Instead, be wary of the late summer-early autumn allergy season: It’s getting longer every year.
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Ragweed grows thicker and produces more pollen in higher levels of carbon dioxide.
“Diesel particles help to deliver these aeroallergens deep into our alveoli and present them to immune cells along the way,” aggravating asthma and other lung issues, said Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s annual Asthma Capitals report ranks Philadelphia as the fourth worst of 100 American cities for people with the inflammatory lung disease.
Climate change-aggravated heat anomalies can produce even more days of poor air quality across the region.
Anxious yet? Probably. More than two in five Americans believe we’re being harmed by global warming right now (45%), and about the same percentage say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming (44%).
More of us are, and will.