Newswise — Studies show that climate change is real, it is affecting our world and it is having a direct impact on public health, today. The available science clearly illustrates how human health is harmed by heat waves, forest fires, extreme weather events and other consequences of carbon pollution. Respiratory physicians of the American Thoracic Society are seeing first-hand how climate change hurts the respiratory health of children and adults, and we are deeply concerned.

President Trump’s decision to revoke policy designed to respond to the immediate threat posed by climate change is an affront to human health. We call upon the President to examine the overwhelming scientific evidence and recognize that climate change is an urgent domestic and global health crisis that the U.S. must address.

American Thoracic Society President David Gozal, MD, MBA 03/28/2017