President Barack Obama this morning put a human face on the harmful effects climate change can have on public health  - his daughter Malia. While making the case that higher temperatures lead to increases in wildfires, which send allergy-causing particulates into the air that can lead to greater and more serious incidents of asthma, the president recalled his own child's run-in with the disease as a toddler. 'Well you know, Malia had asthma when she was four, and because we had good health insurance, we were able to knock it out early,' the president told ABC News’ chief health correspondent, Dr. Richard Besser, in an interview that aired on Good Morning America. Scroll down for video . President Barack Obama this morning put a human face on the harmful effects climate change can have on public health - his daughter Malia . 'Well you know Malia had asthma when she was four, and because we had good health insurance, we were able to knock it out early,' the president told ABC News’ chief health correspondent, Dr. Richard Besser, in an interview that aired on Good Morning America . Then an Illinois U.S. Senate candidate, Obama is pictured here in 2004 with his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia, right, age 6, and and Sasha, left, age 3. Obama today said he can 'relate to... the fear a parent has when your four-year-old daughter comes up to you and says, "Daddy, I'm having trouble breathing." ' The president said he can 'relate to... the fear a parent has when your four-year-old daughter comes up to you and says, "Daddy, I'm having trouble breathing." ' 'The fright you feel is terrible.' Obama said the health scare resulted in a single trip to the emergency room for his daughter - who at the age of 16 now lives a full and an active life, inhaler free - but other children aren't so fortunate. They they find themselves in and out the emergency room several times a year. And those episodes end up costing taxpayers. So it's an all-around benefit to society if they can be prevented, he argued. The president told a similar version of the story to CBS News' Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook during an interview that ran this morning. 'I'm a dad like everybody else,' the president told LaPook as he recounted the terrifying emergency room visit. In putting front and center the personal cost of inaction, Obama is attempting to galvanize support for his climate change initiatives. 'While most Americans see climate change hitting their communities through extreme weather events – from more severe droughts and wildfires to more powerful hurricanes and record heat waves – there are other threats climate change poses to the American people,' the White House said in a fact sheet outlining the new public health campaign. The percentage of Americans with asthma has 'more than doubled' in the last three decades, the fact sheet stated, 'and climate change is putting these individuals and many other vulnerable populations at greater risk of landing in the hospital.' Most at risk for climate change related health problems are children, the elderly, the poor, people who are already sick 'and some communities of color,' the White House said. 'Rising temperatures can lead to more smog, longer allergy seasons, and an increased incidence of extreme-weather-related injuries.' Malia Obama, now 16, is pictured here in 2012 playing tennis, one of her favorite sports. The president said her health scare resulted in a single asthma-related trip to the emergency room but she now lives a full and an active life, inhaler free . At a Washington, D.C. college yesterday, Obama put a finer point on the argument and contended that 'all of our families are going to be vulnerable' to global warming induced health risks because 'you can’t cordon yourself off from air or from climate.' The president said that as part of his administration's effort to engage the public on the topic it would make available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies showing the link between rising temperatures and human health. That data will be used by tech companies, including Microsoft and Google, to create applications Americans can use to 'educate and protect' themselves, Obama said. His administration will also convene a White House Climate Change and Health Summit this spring, led by Attorney General Vivek Murthy, that will bring medial professionals and academics together for a discussion on how to reduce the impacts of climate change on the public's health. 'So the bottom line is we all need to do our part,' Obama told participants of a Howard University roundtable focused on the issue yesterday. President Barack Obama, center left, participates in a roundtable discussion on the impacts of climate change on public health with Vivek Murthy, U.S. surgeon general, left, Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), second from right, and Charlotte Wallace, sustainability coordinator at Anne Arundel Medical Center, third from right, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday . Obama said 'all of our families are going to be vulnerable' to global warming induced health risks because 'you can’t cordon yourself off from air or from climate.' Murthy said, 'This is a personal issue for me because when I was young one of my favorite uncles...he died from a severe asthma attack' 'Obviously, this administration has been aggressive in using the administrative authorities that we currently' to put a dent in pollution, he continued. By raising fuel efficiency standards and working to reduce carbon emissions,' Obama said. 'But we’ve got a lot more work to do if we’re going to deal with this problem in an effective way and make sure that our families and our kids are safe.' Speaking after Obama, Murthy asserted that hotter weather 'can mean worse air in cities, and more smog and more ozone,' in addition to more wildfire smoke. 'Earlier springs and longer summers mean longer allergy seasons,' he said. 'And more asthma attacks mean more days of school missed. They mean more days of work missed. They mean more costly trips to the doctor. 'And they most importantly mean more scary moments for parents and for children.' Murthy said asthma is a disease that has taken a toll on his family, as well. 'This is a personal issue for me because when I was young one of my favorite uncles -- actually he was very dear to me as a child -- he died from a severe asthma attack,' Murthy explained. 'And it’s also personal to me because I’ve cared for many patients over the years who have suffered from asthma and have seen firsthand how frightening it can be to suddenly be wheezing and fighting for every breath...And the impacts of climate change could make this situation worse.'
Said he can relate to 'fear a parent has when your four-year-old daughter comes up to you and says, "Daddy, I'm having trouble breathing" ' Health scare resulted in a single trip to the emergency room for Malia - who at the age of 16 now lives an active life, inhaler free . But other children aren't so fortunate; they they find themselves in and out the emergency room several times a year, he said . White House says  higher temperatures lead to increases in wildfires, which send allergy-causing particulates into the air that can lead to greater and more serious incidents of asthma . New initiative aimed at slowing the pace of global warming puts front and center the personal cost of inaction .