by Dr. Stephen Modell, M.D.

In June 2020 Ann Arbor released its A²ZERO Living Carbon Neutrality Plan. Major areas include strategies to shift towards renewable energy, switch appliances and vehicles to electric, and create community resilience. The Plan has had a local trickle-down effect, with the University of Michigan issuing its own carbon neutrality plan in May 2021, and Washtenaw County eyeing a Climate Action Plan. Also this year, the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North formed an Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group and a Plant Rich Diet Task Force. A²ZERO advocates plant rich diets as a way of promoting health while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Beth Emeth members at the ecumenical temple on Packard formed the TBE Dayenu Climate Action Circle. A²ZERO ambassadors Ray and Noreen De Young shared carbon neutrality and food sustainability strategies with the group.

Health during a time of climate change is a focus area the Dayenu group is adopting that includes and transcends the above categories. You are not alone if your outdoor activities have been curtailed by the very noticeable rise in the mosquito population this summer. The state of Michigan ranks sixth in neurologic cases (379 recorded so far) associated with West Nile Virus, carried by the Asian tiger mosquito, formerly indigenous to my wife’s country of Thailand. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, state hospital visits for dehydration in those 18 years and younger increased from an annual average of 791 in the 2014-18 period to 857 in 2019. Washtenaw County lies in the highest quartile of childhood asthma cases seen per year in Michigan. Stroke and chronic respiratory disease mortality have been on the rise in Washtenaw County since 2016, especially in those 75 years and older. Climate change is a notable contributor towards each of these trends, overlapping yet preceding COVID-19.

Public health practitioners speak of an “ecological approach” that optimally touches multiple layers of concern, infrastructure being the most broadly comprehensive, enclosing social and community welfare, with group and individual health being central. In these times, environmental health and disease tracking will continue to be crucially important, but so will community outreach and aligning of resources, preparedness and response to emergency situations. The resilience hubs planned for Ann Arbor and cooling centers in Detroit represent examples of this kind. The latter were in part a result of Michigan’s Climate and Health Adaptation Program supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 2010; MICHAP expires this year.

Legislative action could fill the gap. In November 2017 Ann Arbor residents passed a “Community Safety and Resiliency” millage that creatively lumped together support of mental health interventions including the opioid crisis, climate resiliency, and out-county police patrolling. On a more ambitious scale, Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor proposed to city council members on July 6 this year a one-mill, 20-year property tax plan to meet the 2030 Ann Arbor carbon neutrality goal. The plan would raise between $130 and 150 million dollars in total, which if it is placed on the November ballot, will turn on each voter’s conscience. Unlike the 2017 millage, the proposal does not address health.

The Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act is a piece of legislation before Congress which accomplishes the community-wide objectives stated above, would bring in federal dollars, and pays special attention to communities harmed by the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis. Ann Arbor residents wishing to add their voice to community action for health may visit the American Public Health Association’s Action Alert on Climate Change web page, and in a few clicks send a ZIP-code guided message to Senators Stabenow and Peters and Representative Dingell emphasizing health as a priority in Ann Arbor.

Strategies followed by Rotary and Dayenu also bring to the fore the notion of “personalized health,” steps that everyone can take to maximize their own health and that of their fellow community members. This approach entails preparedness (having necessary medications and mosquito repellent (can be natural) on hand); simplifying (walking, bicycling or taking TheRide instead of driving, using fans instead of household cooling); conserving (reducing food waste, composting, increasing consumption of plant-based protein); and sensibility (frequent hydration, adequate ventilation, avoiding prolonged heat exposure). Other actions, such as buying food in bulk and accessing community gardens and locally grown food, can be adopted at the group level. Whether personalized or policy-oriented, climate efforts are at their best when health is on top of the action list.

Stephen Modell, M.D. is the At-large member of the American Public Health Association Action Board, a Research and Dissemination Activities Director in the Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, and a member of the Temple Beth Emeth Dayenu Climate Action Circle