Climate change–driven health impacts are serious, widespread, and costly. Importantly, such damages are largely absent from policy debates around the costs of delay and inaction on this crisis. While climate change is a global problem, its impacts are localized and personal, and there is growing demand for specific information on how climate change affects human health in different places. Existing research indicates that climate-fueled health problems are growing, and that investments in reducing carbon pollution and improving community resilience could help to avoid tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in climate-sensitive health impacts across the USA each year, including those stemming from extreme heat, air pollution, hurricanes, and wildfires. Science that explores the underappreciated local health impacts and health-related costs of climate change can enhance advocacy by demonstrating the need to both address the root causes of climate change and enhance climate resilience in vulnerable communities. The climate crisis has historically been predominantly conceived as a global environmental challenge; examination of climate impacts on public health enables researchers to localize this urgent problem for members of the public and policymakers. In turn, approaches to climate science that focus on health can make dangerous climate impacts and the need for cost-effective solutions more salient and tangible.

气候变化驱动的健康影响是严重、广泛和昂贵的。重要的是，围绕在这场危机中拖延和不作为的代价的政策辩论基本上没有出现这种损害。虽然气候变化是一个全球性问题，但其影响是局部的和个人的，并且对于气候变化如何影响不同地方的人类健康的具体信息的需求不断增长。现有研究表明，气候引发的健康问题正在增加，投资减少碳污染和提高社区复原力可以帮助避免美国每年对气候敏感的健康影响数百至数千亿美元，包括那些源于极端高温、空气污染、飓风和野火。探索气候变化对当地健康影响和健康相关成本被低估的科学可以通过证明需要解决气候变化的根本原因和增强脆弱社区的气候适应能力来加强宣传。气候危机历来主要被视为全球环境挑战。检查气候对公共卫生的影响使研究人员能够为公众和决策者定位这一紧迫问题。反过来，关注健康的气候科学方法可以使危险的气候影响以及对具有成本效益的解决方案的需求更加突出和切实。气候危机历来主要被视为全球环境挑战。检查气候对公共卫生的影响使研究人员能够为公众和决策者定位这一紧迫问题。反过来，关注健康的气候科学方法可以使危险的气候影响以及对具有成本效益的解决方案的需求更加突出和切实。气候危机历来主要被视为全球环境挑战。检查气候对公共卫生的影响使研究人员能够为公众和决策者定位这一紧迫问题。反过来，关注健康的气候科学方法可以使危险的气候影响以及对具有成本效益的解决方案的需求更加突出和切实。