We had a well-publicized surge last fall at San Diego State University’s Snapdragon Stadium debut game when emergency crews provided medical aid, and about 200 fans were treated for heat-related illness while 20 were sent to the hospital. These preterm babies often suffer a lifetime of health consequences. The latter phenomenon was highlighted in a 2020 UC San Diego study. Here in San Diego, we see increased emergency room visits during heat waves, we see our elderly patients hospitalized after outdoor gardening on a hot summer day, and we see our pregnant patients go into preterm labor during extreme heat. In 2021, during an unprecedented heatwave in the Pacific Northwest, thousands flooded emergency rooms and hundreds died. Our medical journals are filled with articles highlighting the plethora of heat-associated health risks: increased heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, kidney stones, multiple sclerosis flares, preterm birth, mental health deterioration, to name just a few. We see what happens to the health of our patients during heat waves, increasing in both intensity and frequency. The medical community is on the front lines managing the health consequences of climate change. Our bodies don’t function well when we have a fever, and we certainly don’t feel well. Two mere degrees might not seem alarming, but for a person, 2 degrees up from a standard core temperature constitutes a fever. The World Meteorological Organization is predicting record high temperatures, superimposed on a warming planet up about 2 degrees Fahrenheit from where it was just 150 years ago. Summer is now upon us, and the heat is on. It wasn’t too long ago that we were battling wildfires instead in January. Many relished the delight of this winter wonderland. The snowcapped mountains viewed from the coastal hills were magnificent. The water pouring from the sky stunted our seemingly endless drought, simultaneously nourishing our soil and our souls. This was an atypically cool winter in San Diego. Lindegren, M.D., is a pediatrician, serves on the American Academy of Pediatrics California Chapter 3 Climate Change and Health Committee and lives in San Diego. Castellanos, M.D., is a cardiologist and professor of medicine at UCSD School of Medicine and lives in San Diego. Hampshire, M.D., is a family physician at Sharp, serves on the Public Health Advisory Council of Climate Action Campaign and lives in Del Mar.
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