Climate Change and Human Health
Gail Carlson contributes research and expertise to the latest Maine Climate Council report and climate-action plan
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Gail Carlson has become one of the region’s go-to scientists when it comes to providing research and expertise about urgent and evolving issues related to climate change and the impact of environmental degradation on human health.
Most recently, Carlson contributed research that informed the Maine Climate Council’s new high-profile climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, which was released the week before Thanksgiving. Her findings and opinions about the human impact of forever chemicals, toxic compounds, and wildfire smoke have been widely cited and quoted.
Maine Climate Council working groups consulted Carlson’s contributions to the Science and Technical Report when writing the larger report, which provides lawmakers and government agencies with a plan to help the state prepare for the impacts of climate change while diversifying its economy. Her latest work is a continuation of her career-spanning research and civic engagement focused on food security and environmental policymaking.
The latest Maine Climate Council report is an update of the state’s first climate-action plan written in 2020. It includes new information and findings from the council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, of which Carlson is a member. Among the duties of the subcommittee was identifying, monitoring, studying, and reporting key findings and recommendations related to climate change in Maine and its effects on the state’s climate, species, marine and coastal environments, natural landscape, and the ocean itself and other bodies of water.
Carlson was asked to join the subcommittee because of her expertise on the impact of climate change on the health of human beings. She and other subcommittee members focused on impacts that have already been measured or predicted for Mainers or were likely to occur among Maine residents.
‘It feels good to be contributing’
“It feels great to feel like you are having an impact,” Carlson said of her research. “My contribution is a small part of the whole Science and Technical report. It is just one piece of the process, but it feels good to be contributing to the work that Maine has committed to do. It was a great experience.”
It’s also good for Colby because it places the College at the center of what is certain to be an ongoing policy conversation at the capitol in Augusta. Carlson and her students have testified before the Maine Legislature in the past and are prepared to do so again, she said.
Their research is included in a chapter of the report titled Human Dimensions, which begins with this introduction that Carlson wrote:
“Climate change currently affects human health and well-being across the globe, including in Maine, and is projected to have significant impacts in the future. In addition, climate change is considered a threat magnifier that exacerbates the burdens of a broad range of diseases and other physical and mental health conditions. While some of these impacts have been documented in the scientific literature in Maine, others have not, due to a variety of factors such as the translation of practitioner knowledge and data into publications. However, because the human health impacts of climate change-driven hazards can be similar across locations, studies done in populations elsewhere can help identify health risks in Maine. Ongoing epidemiological studies in Maine will better characterize Maine-specific risks and identify subpopulations that may face disproportionate health burdens.”
Among the key findings that Carlson helped shape:
- Maine is vulnerable to increasing illnesses and deaths because of extreme weather, in particular heat, cold, and the impact of flooding. Extreme weather events can cause injuries and fatalities, such as four confirmed deaths due to injuries and floodwater-associated drownings in a December 2023 storm. Additionally, visits to Maine emergency rooms because of heat-related illnesses were almost eight times more likely to be work related than other emergency department visits. Other risk factors associated with heat-related illness included yard work and mowing, participation in outdoor exercise or sports, and homelessness or other housing insecurities.
- While deer tick populations have stabilized in southern Maine, they are increasing in northern counties, which is reflected in the high and increasing rates of Lyme disease. Climate variations can cause changes in deer tick populations, and deer ticks can transmit multiple diseases, including Lyme, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan encephalitis virus, and relapsing fever. Lyme disease incidence in Maine is consistently in the top five among U.S. states and has increased over time.
- Incidences of diseases associated with lone star ticks, such as red meat allergy, are also increasing, as are mosquito-borne diseases, including a second veterinary outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis virus in 2023. West Nile Virus and Jamestown Canyon Virus were reported in Maine in 2023, with a human fatality from Jamestown Canyon Virus reported in 2022.
- Smoke from wildfires in Canada and the Western United States are impacting Maine’s air quality. Wildfire smoke can be transported to the East Coast and cause adverse health outcomes, including respiratory and heart issues as well as headaches and nausea, and worsen chronic health conditions.
- Climate change threatens food security. In Maine, about 10 percent of people are food insecure, and the problem is expected to worsen because of high prices caused in part by climate change. Indigenous food supplies are also threatened.
- The mental health impacts of climate change vary depending on a person’s exposure to climate impacts, underlying mental health conditions, quality of and access to emergency response and mental health services, and social and cultural support systems.
Roles for Maine physicians
The Maine Climate Council report cites a recent research paper, published by the Maine Policy Review, that Carlson wrote with Megan Andersen ’22. For the paper, Roles for Maine Physicians in the Climate Crisis, Carlson and Andersen surveyed physicians in Maine about climate change and health. Of the 108 respondents, 84 (78 percent) said they believed that climate change posed a threat to the health of their patients, particularly for asthma, vector-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and mental health problems.
Most reported these conditions were becoming more prevalent, and they identified children, older adults, and patients with chronic health conditions as those most at risk. Despite this awareness, most physicians who responded said they did not discuss climate change with their patients, although they identified communicating with patients and the public as a role for physicians, according to the research.
The report also cites Carlson’s textbook, Human Health and the Climate Crisis, for which several Colby students wrote case studies.
Opportunities for students
Increasingly, Carlson said, individual states have important roles to play in designing and implementing their own climate change policies and solutions. Doing so helps insulate the region from changes in federal energy policies and international climate accords.
The work of the Maine Climate Council makes Maine a national leader, and Carlson’s involvement positions Colby students to be part of the climate change conversation and the quest for outcomes that work in Maine and that can work elsewhere.
“It shows students there are tons of opportunities to work on climate-friendly projects, to go into careers in public health, renewable energy, and sustainability, to focus on coastal community resilience and environmental justice, and how to decarbonize a big rural state like Maine,” Carlson said. “There is a lot of work going on in this state and a lot of opportunity for Colby grads and others.”
