Dr. Pamela Guthman, Clinical Assistant Professor at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences participated in a three-day training to become a Climate Reality Leader, held August 2-4, 2019 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. More than 1,100 people gathered and spent three days working with former Vice President Al Gore and world-renowned scientists and communicators learning about the new science and data on climate and climate related problems and how they can be solved.
Upon completion, participants emerged from the training empowered with the skills and knowledge to address the climate crisis, communicate with different audiences, and implement fair and ambitious climate solutions with their communities.
Dr Guthman states, “We can no longer afford to wait for someone else to make change. It is important nurses show moral courage and demand the change we need to see to combat climate change for the health and lives of our populations.”
Droughts, floods, mudslides, intense rainfall, tornadoes and/or straight-line winds, hailstorms, hurricanes, and forest fires are occurring more frequently and with increasing intensity, placing many lives at risk. If it isn’t emergencies from the weather-related issues affecting population health, then health is impacted from increased allergy symptoms from higher pollen levels. People with cardiovascular and asthma issues are already suffering from poor air quality from air pollution, but add in the higher humidity, pollen, and contaminants from a forest fire and their health becomes quickly compromised. In addition, there is a change in the migration of insects and ticks as Lyme’s Disease, West Nile Virus, and other diseases have rapidly increased and caused additional cases of tick-borne illnesses. Dr. Guthman notes, “though there is a significant urgency for us to act now given the climate crisis and threat to human health; we know that in order to mitigate the climate issues, we will need everyone to do their part…we need the collective willpower to move and embrace the change of the future. It is our responsibility as nurses to protect our populations; this is about population health rooted in social and climate justice issues.”
Please contact Pamela Guthman, DNP, RN-BC for more information on The Climate Reality Project, guthmapl@uwec.edu.
Or visit the CDC’s website on climate and health https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/default.htm.
