Health Industry Contributes 10% Of US Greenhouse Gas, And Growing
A report from the House Ways and Means Committee shows how the health industry is contributing to climate change, with certain emissions rising 6% between 2010 and 2018. A separate AP report reminds how climate change can jeopardize health services, including via wildfires and smoke.
Modern Healthcare:
Healthcare Industry On Defense In Climate Crisis: Report
Greenhouse gases released from the healthcare sector make up 10% of total U.S. emissions, and they continue to grow. According to the report, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gas emissions rose 6% between 2010 and 2018, resulting in the loss of 388,000 disability-adjusted life-years. The House Ways and Means Committee published these findings in conjunction with a hearing on the subject Thursday. (Hartnett, 9/15)
AP:
Climate Change Jeopardizes Health Care Services, Report Says
Dr. Suzy Fitzgerald remembers looking out the windows as wildfire flames surrounded the hospital where she worked. “We had fire in all three directions,” Fitzgerald recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh gosh, this is serious. We need to get these people out.’” Fitzgerald helped with the evacuation of 122 patients from Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Rosa Medical Center on that night nearly five years ago, as the blaze gobbled up homes and buildings across Northern California. The hospital, which had filled with smoke, closed for 17 days. Medical centers around the country say that fires, flooding, heat waves and other extreme weather are jeopardizing medical services, damaging health care facilities and forcing patients to flee their hospital beds, according to a report released Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee. (Seitz, 9/15)
Read the report from the House Ways and Means Committee —
HEALTH CARE AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS: PREPARING AMERICA'S HEALTH CARE INFRASTRUCTURE
