Heat Waves Are the Tip Of Connecticut’s Climate Change Iceberg

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Frank Himmelstein typically works 12 hours a day in the fields of the historic Himmelstein Homestead Farm in Lebanon. Normally, it’s hard work managing fields full of squash, peppers and other vegetables, but July 20 was anything but a normal day. The temperature in Lebanon hit 95 degrees. “It’s not good for people to be working out in this heat,” Himmelstein said on July 21. “Yesterday, well, even I needed to pace myself yesterday.”

The average ‘extremely hot’ day in Connecticut is classified as reaching 90 degrees or above.

Generation Health

Climate Change Views Differ By Generation Regardless Of Ideology

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For decades, scientists and public health officials have warned that the warming climate is the greatest threat to human health globally. But efforts to address the issue have been hampered by, among other things, climate change deniers. Those who do not view climate change as a significant problem driven mainly by human activity and the continued use of fossil fuels are also often associated with a partisan divide. But a June 2021 Pew Research Center poll found that millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z adults (born between 1997 and 2012) showed “high levels of engagement” in addressing climate change, regardless of party affiliation or ideology. The poll found that among Republicans, generational differences in views about climate change are “quite pronounced.”

The study found that 49% of Gen Z and 48% of millennial Republicans say that action is needed now to reduce the effects of climate change, compared to only 37% of Gen X (born after 1964) and 26% of baby boomers (born after 1946) who say it should be a top priority.

Environmental Health

Wet Summer Raises Risk Of Mosquito-Borne Illnesses In October

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With mosquito levels at the highest in 20 years, three mosquito-borne illnesses are most dangerous to humans in October after being passed from birds to mosquitoes over the summer months. This year, the first report of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) occurred Sept. 23 in mosquitoes trapped in Voluntown, in southeastern Connecticut, as part of the state’s surveillance program. EEE is rare but kills one-third of those who catch it, according to the state Department of Public Health. Two years ago, three out of four people who caught EEE in Stonington died.

Disparities/Environmental Health

Industrial Farming Outweighs Willpower In Obesity Crisis, Experts Say

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Industrial-scale farming and food processing are greater factors in rising obesity numbers in Connecticut and worldwide than individual behavior, scientists say. This complex food system feeds directly into greenhouse gas emissions and accelerated climate change. Last year the journal The Lancet identified a global “syndemic” linking climate change to obesity and poor nutrition, referencing dozens of studies. Earlier, in 2017, the journal Public Health reported “significant and new insight about the causal link between obesity and environmental emissions.”

In Connecticut, 27% of all adults, almost 12% of children and 14% of toddlers (ages 2-4) have obesity. In 1990, the rate for adults was 10%, reports Connecticut Data Haven in its 2019 Community Health Well-Being Survey.

Environmental Health

Mold Concerns Rise With The Sea Level

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A day after Hurricane Sandy hit, Nancy Arnold waded down her basement stairs and saw five feet of storm surge partially submerging her furnace and hot water heater. After the water eventually retreated, and the local fire department pumped out the rest, Arnold had another worry: mold. A husband and wife who had done painting for the Arnolds showed up and offered to wash the home’s lower level with bleach. “Where would I have been without that,” Arnold wondered this summer, “because they knew about the mold, and they Cloroxed the whole basement. If there’s another storm, I don’t know if they’re up to do that again.”

Arnold has lived in her house near the end of Whitfield Street in Guilford since 1962.  She and her family evacuated to a local community center for six hours during the worst of Sandy’s tempest.