Climate Emergency Impact
Public Health
In Washington State, climate change has already led to increases in the following serious health issues, all of which are projected to get worse in the years ahead:
- Lyme disease and West Nile virus: rising temperatures have led to changing tick habitat and earlier onset of West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes
- Heat-related hospital admissions and heat-related deaths
- Respiratory illnesses from more frequent wildfires and air pollution
- Food insecurity
Hotter temperatures lead to increases in ground-level ozone (smog), small particulate matter, and airborne allergens, all of which are definitively linked to heart attack, stroke, some cancers, and respiratory disease.
Source: National Climate Assessment
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