Climate-change report details potential health impacts in Montana

A group of scientists and physicians last week released a report detailing how heat, wildfires, drought, floods and other events related to climate change have impacted the physical and mental health of Montanans, and are likely to continue doing so into the future.

The 109-page assessment, Climate Change and Human Health in Montana, is the first single-source comprehensive report of its kind in the state. Primarily funded by the Montana Healthcare Foundation, the report aims to “help communities, health-care professionals, and other decision-makers understand the climate-health connection and evaluate different strategies for response.”

It draws from, and is an extension to, the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment, which focused on how a warming planet negatively impacts the state’s resources and agriculture industry. A handful of findings in the 2017 report served as the foundations for nine key messages outlined in the new assessment released Tuesday, each of which received a confidence rating based on agreement and evidence among researchers and authors.

“In contrast to the Montana Climate Assessment, which focused on agriculture, forests and water, this report is about people and their health,” said Alexandra Adams, a physician and lead author of the new report. “It builds on the Montana Climate Assessment by adding what has been learned from numerous health-related studies to analyze health impacts of climate change to the people of Montana.”

There are three aspects of climate change that are of greatest concern for human health in Montana, according to the report. And it’s these issues that collectively top the list of key takeaways.

Those issues, which received an overall rating of “high agreement, robust evidence,” are increased summer temperatures and periods of extreme heat with many days over 90 degrees, reduced air quality due to an increase in wildfires and more unexpected climate-related weather events including rapid spring snowmelt and flooding.

Other key messages delve into how these three findings will impact human health. For example, the report states wildfires will lead to more respiratory and cardiopulmonary illnesses, flooding could endanger lives and contaminate water supplies and summer droughts will pose problems to agriculture, which may result in decreased food availability and nutritional quality.

THE ISSUE of foremost concern to climate scientists and health practitioners alike, according to the document, is the projected rise in temperature — an event the report says will have measurable impacts on the health and wellbeing of Montanans far into the future.

During a new conference on Tuesday, authors of the report and other stakeholders said the anticipated increase in temperature is more likely to impact areas in Eastern Montana that tend to be more arid. In contrast, the report shows Flathead County and other areas in Western and Northwest Montana may be among the areas least impacted by some of the events.

For example, in one section that looks at extreme heat, a graphic shows the average land-surface temperature on days with extreme heat from 2000 to 2019 in Flathead and Lincoln counties was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the lowest average for the state, with other counties in Eastern Montana having experienced temperatures closer to 115 degrees.

The section also rates the state’s northwestern and western counties as being less vulnerable to heat in general. Overall, it was determined that Roosevelt County has a high vulnerability rating, while 17 counties have a medium-high rating, 12 have a medium-low rating and 26 counties, including Flathead and Lincoln, have a low rating.

Heat vulnerability was determined by combining available heat exposure data with information on an area’s sensitivity to heat, which was calculated using socioeconomic factors from the U.S. Census Bureau. Some socioeconomic factors that were taken into consideration include poverty and access to food.

Similar to extreme heat, the report offers in-depth analysis on wildfires and wildfire smoke, floods and water-related illnesses and food security and nutrition concerns, and also discusses how these issues can impact one’s mental health and wellness, as well as Montana’s economy.

According to Bruce Maxwell, a professor with Montana State University and co-author on the 2017 report and the new assessment, one key message individuals might relate to and be able to digest the most is the report’s take on wildfires. He said the effects of wildfire activity have been felt far and wide by many Montanans and serve as a more tangible impact of climate change.

Western Montana, for example, is no stranger to such events. In 2017 fire activity in Montana shattered records when blazes such as the Rice Ridge Fire near Seeley Lake and Glacier National Park’s Sprague Fire swept the region.

And the report projects fires will only worsen in the coming years. The document highlights data from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality that shows the number of communities or counties whose air quality was rated as moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous generally increased from 2010 to 2017 as a result of wildfires.

WHILE A large portion of the report is focused on explaining the intersection of climate change and health, the document’s other purpose is to provide recommendations for how communities, health-care professionals and individuals can combat some of the current and projected issues.

“The key messages and recommendations of the report were developed to be useful to people wherever they live in Montana,” Maxwell said. “Everyone has a role to play.”

The report offers five ambitious recommendations. The No.1 suggestion is to establish an adequately funded and coordinated statewide public health network that engages myriad stakeholders in planning and implementing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Another major recommendation focuses on data, noting stakeholders should “improve information collected and shared at the state and local levels on climate and health to facilitate this public health network and medical decision-making.” To accomplish this, the report recommends individuals work with government agencies to expand and improve data accessibility — especially in underreported and underserved areas — and support efforts in the health-care community to better capture and analyze the physical and health impacts of climate change.

During the press conference, experts acknowledged that tackling climate change in Montana is a momentous task. However, they said they hope national, state and local leaders will use the assessment and its recommendations as a jumping off point and will feel more of a sense of urgency after sifting through the document.

“We already see conditions related to heat. Those will get worse. We already see conditions related to wildfire. Those will get worse,” said Rob Byron, an internist with Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate and co-author. “There are lots of solutions, but no single solution will answer all the questions.”

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com