{"id":426049,"date":"2026-02-13T19:13:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426049"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:27:10","slug":"a-reply-to-trump-is-wrong-to-abolish-the-endangerment-finding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426049","title":{"rendered":"A Reply to Trump is Wrong to Abolish the Endangerment Finding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists should make an effort when they try to defend their positions, rather than simply trotting out tired alarmist talking points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trump says climate change doesn\u2019t endanger public health \u2013 evidence shows it does, from extreme heat to mosquito-borne illnesses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: February 13, 2026, 6.11am AEDT
Jonathan Levy<\/a>\u00a0Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University
Howard Frumkin<\/a>\u00a0Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington
Jonathan Patz<\/a>\u00a0Professor of Environmental Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Vijay Limaye<\/a>\u00a0Adjunct Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As physicians<\/a>, epidemiologists<\/a> and environmental health<\/a> scientists<\/a>, we\u2019ve seen growing evidence of the connections between climate change and harm to people\u2019s health. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Extreme heat
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Heat deaths have been rising globally, up 23%<\/a> from the 1990s to the 2010s, when the average year saw more than half a million heat-related deaths. Here in the U.S., the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome killed hundreds of people<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Extreme weather<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warmer air holds more moisture, so climate change brings increasing rainfall and storm intensity and worsening flooding, as many U.S. communities have experienced<\/a> in recent years. Warmer ocean water also fuels more powerful hurricanes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change also worsens droughts<\/a>, disrupting food supplies and causing respiratory illness from dust. Rising temperatures and aridity dry out forests and grasslands, making them a setup for wildfires<\/a>.

Air pollution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildfires, along with other climate effects, are\u00a0worsening air quality<\/a>\u00a0around the country.

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Infectious diseases
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Because they are cold-blooded organisms, insects are directly influenced by temperature. So, with rising temperatures, mosquito biting rates rise as well. Warming also accelerates the development of disease agents that mosquitoes transmit.\u00a0

\u2026Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/theconversation.com\/trump-says-climate-change-doesnt-endanger-public-health-evidence-shows-it-does-from-extreme-heat-to-mosquito-borne-illnesses-275619<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Extreme heat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The argument global warming is worsening health outcomes by causing more heat deaths in Summer ignores that far more people die in winter. Even in hot countries like India, cold deaths outweigh heat deaths. If global warming reduces the severity of winter, any rise in heat deaths in Summer will be more than offset by a reduction in cold deaths in winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Study: Total Number of Attributable Deaths Due to Cold In Pune, India, Nearly 7 Times Higher Than Heat Deaths<\/a><\/blockquote>