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A new Defense Department report on the security impacts of climate change provides startling evidence of the impacts of climate change on military readiness and the welfare of servicemembers — health impacts from heat have already cost the military as much as nearly $1 billion from 2008 to 2018 in lost work, retraining and medical care, according to a new report by NBC News and Inside Climate News. Similarly, Ecowatch reported that based on the data contained in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ recent report entitled “Killer Heat,” African Americans have been disproportionately affected by extreme heat — approximately 40 percent of the total U.S. African American population vs. 3.0. percent of the U.S. general population will be affected as a result of global warming.
Why This Matters: You might not think of poor and minority communities as having that much in common with members of the military, but in fact, both groups lack the power to alter their circumstances when it comes to exposure to extreme heat. Low income and minority victims are trapped by their lack of means, but soldiers and sailors are also powerless and trapped in the heat during training, at the mercy of their commanders. With this knowledge of the disproportionate impacts, policymakers and military commanders should do more to ensure that both populations are better protected from heat stress. The military, in particular, should raise awareness among commanders of the dangers of heat illness because there was evidence in the NBC/Inside Climate News report that a disregard for heat safety rules led to the deaths of service members.
“The investigation found that despite acknowledging the risks of climate change, the military continues to wrestle with finding a sustainable, comprehensive strategy for how to train in sweltering conditions.”
“In 2008, 1,766 cases of heat stroke or heat exhaustion were diagnosed among active-duty service members, according to military data. By 2018, that figure had climbed to 2,792, an increase of almost 60 percent over the decade.”
African Americans In the South Suffer From the Heat
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Adrienne Hollis and Dr. Kristy Dahl, a co-author of the Killer Heat report, examined the average number of days with a heat index above 105°F in counties with an African Americans population of 25 percent or more as compared to those counties with fewer than 25 percent African American. They found that “counties with large African American populations are exposed to extreme temperatures 2-3 more days per year than those counties with smaller African American populations. And by midcentury, the expectation is that those same counties would experience about 20 more extreme heat days per year.”
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has required PFAS, cancer-causing chemicals used in manufacturing, in firefighting gear for years despite cancer being the leading killer of firefighters. An extensive investigative two-part story by E&E News’ Ariel Wittenberg reveals not only the dangers of current equipment standards but the lengths the NFPA has gone to hide them.
Why This Matters: A study of 30,000 firefighters from 2010 to 2015 found that firefighters have an increased risk of many different cancers including: leukemia, malignant mesothelioma, bladder and prostate cancers, lung cancer, brain cancer, and digestive and oral cancers.
by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer World Health Organization expert Dr. Peter Ben Embarek revealed this week that the organization’s team of researchers have found two scenarios that could have transferred COVID-19 to humans. He acknowledges that COVID-19 could have been transmitted through frozen products at the Wuhan fish market, but the most likely scenario […]
By Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study published Monday has found that a second, sneezier plague is ramping up. Allergy seasons have increased in duration by an average of 20 days since 1990. Why? Rising temperatures and an abundance of atmospheric carbon are increasing the amount of pollen in the air, and researchers say the […]
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