WASHINGTON — Global warming could lead to an increase in allergies and asthma, deaths by extreme heat and the proliferation of insect-borne diseases, such as West Nile virus, according to a scientific report released Monday by the White House.
The conclusions of the report on the health effects of climate change in the United States are not new. But Obama administration health officials, including Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the surgeon general, said the study, which was reviewed by the National Academies of Science, offered the strongest evidence to date that links climate change to health risks.
A number of scientific reports have suggested that a warming planet may exacerbate certain health problems. Even so, scientists have cautioned that no connections had been proved, given the multitude of variables that influence health.
"The scientific information in this report adds considerably to what was known before," said John P. Holdren, President Barack Obama's top scientific adviser, in a briefing Monday.
The release of the report, titled "The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment," is timed to coincide with National Public Health Week, and with public relations efforts to bolster support for the Obama administration's embattled climate change policies.
Twenty-nine states and several major business groups have legally challenged Obama's signature effort on climate change, an Environmental Protection Agency regulation to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. The Supreme Court in February stepped in to stop the implementation of the rule while the legal challenge winds its way through the judicial system.
The regulation, known as the Clean Power Plan, is at the heart of Obama's pledge under the Paris Agreement, the first global accord committing every country to address climate change.
The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has invited world leaders to New York on April 22, Earth Day, to formally sign the deal, but some climate diplomats fear that with the U.S. plan in legal limbo, other countries may hesitate. Last week, Obama and President Xi Jinping of China pledged that their two countries would sign the deal on Earth Day in a bid to bring other countries to the table.
"This report adds considerably to the impetus on the Clean Power Plan and the agreement reached in Paris," Holdren said.
The report was developed over three years by about 100 experts in climate change science and public health in eight government agencies, including the EPA, Department of Health and Human Services, NASA, Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs.