Environment Frame

According to Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, a research biologist and former Assistant Secretary for Environmental Affairs at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, climate change is putting new stresses on important species, which can destabilize ecosystems. “It is now clear that over the next few decades climate change is likely to become a major threat to many of America's plant and animal species,” says Lovejoy. Rising temperatures and changes in weather have already contributed to disruptions in ecosystems and species declines in many areas of the country and around the world, according to several new studies.

Health Frame

According to Dr. Howard Frumkin, a medical doctor and former director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), climate change is increasing the rates of some diseases and is making extreme weather conditions such as heat waves and severe storms more deadly. “It is now clear that over the next few decades, climate change is likely to become a major threat to the health of Americans,” says Frumkin. Increasingly, severe heat waves, other extreme weather events, and the spread of infectious diseases have already contributed to illness and deaths in all regions of the country and around the world, according to several new studies.