CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH
One Climate Disaster Away From Displacement: An Opportunity to Build Climate Resilience
SAEM PULSE | MAY-JUNE 2021
By Anjni Joiner, DO, MPH, and Caitlin Rublee, MD, MPH, on behalf of SAEM’s Climate Change and Health Interest Group
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Flooding from storms or sea level rise, droughts and desertification, extreme heat, and wildfires are influencing the movement of people. (Hurricane Katrina, tropical cyclone Yasi and desertification in sub-Saharan Africa are just three examples!) Extreme weather events like these impact resource availability and environmental and social factors that contribute to health and well-being. As emergency physicians, we will not only be responsible for treating patients during extreme weather events but after, as a result of these climate disasters. We will hear patient stories and be challenged to diagnose and treat the resultant injuries and diseases: infections, behavioral health disorders, exacerbations of chronic diseases. Patients will tell us how they had to
leave their home and start a new life for their children. We all will undoubtedly be impacted by these stories and the results of climate disaster, professionally and/or personally, throughout our careers.
A Personal Story
Both my mother and father came from small villages less than an hour apart in Gujarat, India. When I recall my childhood visits to these villages, I remember running around lively streets with my sisters and cousins, waking up early to feed our neighbor’s peacocks, and frequenting the small village shops to buy sweet, hard sugar candies and rubbery multicolored balloons. I returned to my mother’s village a few years ago to find a dramatic transformation into what is now essentially a ghost town. The deserted streets were hot and
dusty and our voices echoed across closed gates of boarded up houses. There were no signs of the running or laughing village children that were such a significant part of my childhood memories. Although the efflux of villagers is no doubt multifactorial, I couldn’t help but think about the impact of increasing temperatures and recurrent drought in an already arid desert region. The northwest state of Gujarat, particularly the district of Kutch, has been pummeled with recurrent droughts, due to a combination of heatwaves and scarce and unpredictable monsoon rainfalls. Inhabitants of this region, along with many other areas of the world are forced to consider a difficult decision — either adapt to the changing landscape or migrate.
