How Could Climate Change
Affect Our Health?
The Halifax District of the Florida Environmental Health Association in partnership with the Volusia County Health Department sponsored a summit to answer this question and have an open discussion about how climate change could impact our community and what we can do now to prepare for these possible events.
Attendees listen to Charlie Craig discuss the possible health implications of climate change
Some possible impacts discussed by our speakers at the Climate Change Summit included:
- Migration of tropical diseases into Florida
- Increased types and quantities of mosquitoes and other biting insects
- Longer allergy seasons and more favorable conditions for new pollen-producing plants
- Malnutrition from crop failures and associated food shortages
- Contaminated water supplies from saltwater intrusion
- Heat-related illness, injury and deaths
- Rising sea levels-related flooding displacing local populations and spreading mosquito-borne diseases
- Hurricane storm impacts extending much further inland requiring broader areas of evacuation and causing more damage.
- Increased costs for food, water and energy
Some possible intervention and mitigation strategies that were discussed included:
- Minimize our carbon footprint by reducing our energy consumption
- Curtail housing, businesses and infrastructure development into areas that will be impacted by rising sea levels
- Move people out of possible flood impact areas
- Encouraging new farming techniques as climate changes and developing saltwater-resistant crops.
- Incorporate climate change impacts into future land use plans
- Being open to altering the traditional way we do things as the climates changes
Halifax District would like to thank all of our presenters and attendees for making this a great summit!
Our speakers (from left to right): Volusia County Emergency Management Director Charlie Craig, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council planner Tara McCue, Volusia County Health Department Director Dr. Bonnie Sorenson and Florida Department of Health Environmental Health Planner Sandra Whitehead.
