Calls to counter climate change are nothing new, though they've hit a unique crescendo in recent days following a moral case made by Pope Francis for addressing a problem he acknowledged has been caused largely by humans.

U.S. officials now also are arguing for the need to combat climate change by highlighting an area they say stands to suffer greatly from global warming: human health.

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"It is certainly time to take action," U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said at a White House summit on Tuesday. "I would say it's well past time, in fact."

The summit gathered health experts and environmental activists to discuss the impact of climate change on health and how to protect the public. Warming global temperatures are said to increase the incidence of everything from lung problems and infectious diseases to allergy issues and weather-related injuries.

"It's something we can increasingly see and feel as we step out our front doors," President Barack Obama said in a brief video speech that aired at the event, citing extreme droughts, high heat waves and smog. "The costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of action."

Tuesday's event came on the heels of a report released by the Environmental Protection Agency outlining the health, economic and environmental impacts that will occur if the world does not act to mitigate carbon pollution. Among its findings: 57,000 people in the U.S. could die each year from poor air quality by 2100 without action on climate change.