January 1, 2023 | Originally published in Ka Wai Ola
By: Nicole Mahealani Lum, D.O.
Climate change threatens Hawaiʻi’s clean water sources and endangers the health of our people.
The Navy fuel leakage into the tap water supply at Oʻahu’s military housing has sickened hundreds. The illness, displacement, and anxiety caused by this crisis reinforced the critical importance of protecting our waterways and maintaining access to clean water.
But fuel leaks are not our only worry; climate change is an underrecognized, long-standing threat to our water supply.
Climate change is here in Hawaiʻi. Now. We are experiencing more extreme weather, hotter temperatures, drought, and rising sea levels. As a doctor, I regularly see the health effects of these and other environmental changes…READ THE FULL ARTICLE>
Dr. Nicole Mahealani Lum is a family medicine physician in Honolulu. She is a 2022 Climate and Health Equity Fellow of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. The opinions expressed here are Dr. Lum’s and do not express the views or opinions of her employer.