When Heat Kills: Global Warming As Public Health Threat

The current poster child for global warming is a polar bear, sitting on a melting iceberg. Some health officials argue the symbol should, instead, be a child.

That’s because emerging science shows that people respond more favorably to warnings about climate change when it’s portrayed as a health issue rather than as an environmental problem.

Epidemiologist George Luber at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the most obvious risk from a warming world is killer heat. A deadly heat wave that struck Chicago in 1995 made many people aware of how disastrous sustained high temperatures can be.