Unclean air, extreme temperatures, wildfires and diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks are all things that threaten our health. These are just some of the risks that have been elevated by our changing climate here in Colorado. We need trusted voices who can credibly speak up in support of the health and well-being of Coloradans as the environment in which we live is being substantially altered. Healthy Air and Water Colorado is a new organization of nurses, health aides, doctors and public health professionals launched by Healthier Colorado who aim to be that chorus. They will use their expertise to inform the development of public policy as a means to address the health risks posed by our changing climate and its causes. 

Here in Colorado, temperature increases that once took thousands of years are now occurring within the span of decades. Our state’s average temperature has already risen by 2 degrees in the past 30 years, and our summers are predicted to reach an average high temperature of 90 degrees or more within the next 30 years. Heat has been cited as a public health threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With risks that include stress placed on the cardiovascular, nervous and respiratory systems, heat already sends scores of Coloradans to the emergency room every year. The risks of heat exposure are greater for vulnerable populations, including seniors and children. Also on that list are Coloradans who have diabetes for whom increased body temperatures complicate how they have to use insulin.

Increased heat is altering other elements of our environment in ways that pose additional risks to our health, perhaps most dramatically with the destructive power and air quality impact of wildfires. In 2018, we experienced our highest forest temperatures in 124 years and the second lowest levels of forest precipitation since record keeping started in 1895. We also suffered through five of the state’s 20 largest wildfires in history. Meanwhile, climate change is also bringing new vector-borne diseases to Colorado – diseases transmitted by blood-sucking arthropods. For example, cases of West Nile virus, a potentially deadly disease spread by mosquitoes, have been recorded every year in Colorado since 2002.

Even if you question the role that human activity, particularly carbon emissions, play in accelerating the change in our climate, none of us want to breathe the dirty air associated with both enhancing the “greenhouse effect” and posing immediate risks to respiratory health. Unfortunately, the Denver region has been ranked by the American Lung Association among the 25 most polluted cities in America on both ozone and short-term particle pollution, both of which are lung irritants that cause and exacerbate respiratory problems. Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently considering reclassifying the Denver metro area and the northern Front Range from “moderate” violators of federal health standards on ozone pollution to “serious” violators. 

Breathing clean air and keeping people safe should not be a partisan issue, and the health professionals of Healthy Air and Water Colorado are approaching their mission from a human wellness perspective, not a Democratic or Republican one. Building on the infrastructure of Healthier Colorado, the state’s largest health advocacy group with over 100,000 members, they will bring perspectives from the front lines of health care and scientific research in service of advocacy to protect the health of Coloradans. Here in Colorado, we cherish both our natural surroundings and our people, and Healthy Air and Water Colorado will fight for both of these precious, inextricably-linked treasures. 

Jake Williams is the executive director of Healthier Colorado.