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Experts: Childhood Asthma 'Epidemic' Among Inner-City Youths Seen in Absence of Steps to Curb Global Warming, Fossil Fuel Use; Groups Warn of Growing Health Toll on 'Most Vulnerable' Americans; Rising Heat and City Smog Work Together to Trigger Surge in Asthma, Allergies.

Article Excerpt
WASHINGTON, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of poor and minority children in America's cities likely will suffer even higher rates of asthma as the result of a "powerful one-two punch" of higher levels of pollen and changes in the types of molds spurred by global warming, along with unhealthy urban air masses caused by the burning of fossil fuel by cars, trucks and buses, according to a warning issued today by Harvard researchers and the American Public Health Association (APHA).

The problem is particularly grave since asthma among pre-school children already is at epidemic levels, having grown 160 percent between 1980-1994, more than twice the rate (75 percent) for the overall U.S. population, according to "Inside the Greenhouse: The Impacts of CO2 and Climate Change on Public Health in the Inner City," a report released by the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard Medical School. The highest incidence of asthma cases already is found among low-income and African- American toddlers, a large share of whom live in urban areas.

The Harvard report was made public during a news event today organized by the Results for America (RFA) project of the Civil Society Institute. The report states: "Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), in addition...

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