Climate Connections: How Climate Change Could Make Picking Tobacco Even More Dangerous
Host: Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz (Yale University)
Guest: Dr. Louis Ziska (Columbia University Health Researcher)
Date: May 21, 2026
Episode Overview
This episode spotlights the intersection between child labor in the tobacco industry and the growing public health risks posed by climate change. Host Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz discusses how rising temperatures and changing weather patterns could intensify “green tobacco sickness”—a form of nicotine poisoning contracted through skin contact during tobacco harvesting. The episode emphasizes the urgent need for policies to protect already vulnerable child workers as these climate-driven hazards worsen.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. The Hidden Dangers of Tobacco Harvesting
- Exposure during Work: Many children—some in the US—work on tobacco farms, exposing themselves to green tobacco sickness from direct contact with tobacco leaves.
- Symptoms: The illness can cause "vomiting and cramps," especially dangerous for children because "they're still developing."
- Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, 00:01–00:35
2. Climate Change’s Role in Heightening the Risk
- Expert Insight: Dr. Louis Ziska notes that climate change is likely to increase the risk of green tobacco sickness in major tobacco-growing regions like Brazil, India, China, and the US.
- Mechanism of Increased Risk:
- Climate change could make these regions "hotter, wetter, or both.”
- Nicotine is water soluble: Moisture from rain or sweat enhances nicotine absorption through the skin.
- Heat leads to more sweating, which further increases "blood flow near the skin" and, consequently, nicotine absorption.
- Dr. Louis Ziska, 00:35–01:05
3. Implications for Policy and Child Labor
- Growing Danger:
- “That suggests that the current risk that's posed to tobacco workers will be intensified by climate change.”
- Dr. Louis Ziska, 01:05–01:14
- Call to Action:
- Dr. Ziska expresses hope that these findings “lead to policies that keep children out of tobacco fields.”
- Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, 01:14–01:20
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “You would not let a child smoke a cigarette. But many kids, including some in the US, work on farms picking tobacco for those cigarettes.”
— Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz [00:01]
- “Nicotine is water soluble, so it's absorbed more easily when tobacco leaves or people's skin are wet with rain or sweat. And sweating can also boost nicotine absorption by increasing blood flow near the skin.”
— Dr. Louis Ziska [00:42]
- “That suggests that the current risk that's posed to tobacco workers will be intensified by climate change.”
— Dr. Louis Ziska [01:05]
- “So Ziska hopes this growing danger leads to policies that keep children out of tobacco fields.”
— Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz [01:14]
Important Timestamps
- 00:01–00:35 – Intro & green tobacco sickness explained; risks for children emphasized
- 00:35–01:05 – Dr. Ziska describes climate-change-driven increases in danger and mechanisms of exposure
- 01:05–01:14 – Prognosis: climate change as an intensifier of existing risks
- 01:14–01:20 – Hope for stronger child labor policies in response to these threats
Summary
This brief but impactful episode of Climate Connections demonstrates how the dangers of tobacco harvesting, already severe for child workers, can become even more acute due to the impacts of climate change. Increased heat and moisture, both predicted outcomes in key tobacco-producing areas, will mean more children could suffer from green tobacco sickness unless urgent policy changes are made. Dr. Leiserowitz and Dr. Ziska sound an alarm for both environmental and social justice, calling for immediate action to protect vulnerable workers—and especially children—in agriculture as our climate continues to warm.
