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Abstract

Climate change is creating an unprecedented rehabilitation crisis that healthcare administrators continue to overlook. By 2050, 246 million older adults will face life-threatening heat exposure, representing our future caseload. Air pollution is generating patients requiring pulmonary rehabilitation before age 40. Vulnerable populations—disabled individuals, elderly patients, and rural communities—bear the greatest burden during climate disasters. Recent studies document 38 climate-health impacts specifically affecting rehabilitation patients. Current protocols assume stable environmental conditions, an obsolete assumption requiring immediate revision.