The executive summary of the report is published in the April issue of Environmental Health Perspectives , the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Science. The report examines certain health outcomes that may be affected by climate change, including those associated with temperature and precipitation extremes, air pollution, and diseases carried by contaminated water and food, and by insects, ticks and rodents. Researchers identified some groups within the U.S. at higher risk to certain environmental exposures. For example, the poor urban elderly face the greatest loss of life during summer heat waves because they often lack air conditioning. People with weakened immune systems are more in danger of getting sick if they drink contaminated water.
Heat waves present a set of identifiable risks, especially in urban areas.
For example, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cincinnati have recently experienced heat waves resulting in increased numbers of illnesses and deaths. Climate scientists project that the severity and frequency of heat waves in the U.S. may increase in the future. Increased rainfall and a water filtration system malfunction were cited in the report as part of the cause of a 1993 outbreak caused by Cryptosporidium, a microbiologic contaminant, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More than 400,000 illnesses were reported, including 54 deaths, because of the contaminated drinking water. The report also noted several other large outbreaks of food and waterborne illnesses from E. coli and Giardia.