Climate Change is Happening in Nebraska

Under even the most optimistic scenarios for global greenhouse gas reductions, the planet will experience at least some foregone climate change. We must only look to the forest fires raging in Australia and California, thawing permafrost in the far north, and record flooding here in Nebraska to find threats to our well-being amplified by climate change.

Climate change directly affects your health, reduces access to medical care, and impacts health care systems. Learn more about the climate-related information most relevant to medical specialties, as well as explore how climate change can impede public health.

Nature-based solutions leverage natural features of our landscape to absorb the water and power of extreme flooding events. 

Examples include protecting wetlands and woodlands, setting back levees, creating flood friendly culverts and bridges, opening floodplains, and restoring oxbows.

Nature-based solutions provide a range of benefits, including erosion retention, habitat for game species, and water purification. These strategies can also provide time for working alongside vulnerable populations in high-risk areas. Although nature-based solutions alone are not enough, through nature-based and built infrastructure solutions, we can achieve a more resilient landscape. 

1) Watts, M. A., Amann, M., Arnell, N., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Belesova, K., Boykoff, M., . . . Montgomery, H. (2019). The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate. The Lancet, 394(10211), 1836-1878. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32596-6

2) Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. (2019). Asthma capitals 2019: The most challenging places to live with asthma. Retrieved from Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America website: https://www.aafa.org/media/2426/aafa-2019-asthma-capitals-report.pdf

3) Bauman, A. (2018, May 29). Area hospitals see more than 60 patients for heat-related illness over Memorial Day weekend. Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved from https://www.omaha.com/

4) KETV Omaha (2019, July 19). Multiple heat stroke, heat exhaustion cases reported at local hospitals. KETV Omaha. https://www.ketv.com

Photos in order of appearance: © Chris Helzer / The Nature Conservancy; © WavebreakmediaMicro / Adobe Stock; Aspects and Angles / Shutterstock.com; © Diane Cook and Len Jenshel / The Nature Conservancy; Photo by Егор Камелев on Unsplash; Photo by Zofia Sarnowska on Unsplash; Aspects and Angles / Shutterstock.com; © Chris Helzer / The Nature Conservancy; Dave Weaver / Shutterstock.com