issues increasingly linked to environmental health diagnostics, chronic condition monitoring, and climate-related birth complications in vulnerable populations.
A Public Health Comparison
Violet concludes her paper by comparing public health responses to climate disasters and airborne disease transmission, stating that there seems to be a yearning to return to “normalcy” — a normal that is no longer viable. This is especially evident in the wake of COVID-19, which she has previously spoken about.
Public responses, including pandemic insurance plans, air filtration system upgrades, and public health infrastructure investments, have become recurring themes in both disease and disaster response.
She calls on people concerned about climate to
“engage with the people, the methods, and the political commitments”
to jumpstart the dialogue — and the methods — on how to alleviate global warming and reduce the risk of more devastating disasters like the L.A. wildfires. This includes not just activism, but serious consideration of climate insurance reform, legal pathways for environmental accountability, and improved access to diagnostic testing for respiratory exposure.
