Biggest Health Threat: Global Warming

Posted on | May 18, 2009 | Comments Off

Human induced climate change is “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century,” according to a group of experts.

“This is a bad diagnosis not just for children in different lands. It’s for our children and grandchildren,” Anthony Costello, a professor of international child health and director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London. “Even the most conservative estimates are profoundly disturbing and demand action. Climate change raises an important issue of intergenerational justice, that we are setting up a world for our children and grandchildren that may be extremely frightening and turbulent.” Mr. Costello is the lead author of a report produced jointly by The Lancet journal and University College London (UCL).

“There are no institutions at the global level who can really deal effectively with devising complex solutions to these complex problems,” said Dr. Richard Horton. “It is an urgent threat. It is a dangerous threat. It has been neglected, and requires an unprecedented response by governments and international organizations.”

“The vast majority of experts, 95 percent, maybe even 99 percent, agree that global warming is taking place,” said Kirby Donnelly, head of environmental and occupational health at Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. “The big issue is the model: When will global warming become a problem?”

The report based predicts a 4-degree rise in temperature over the coming century. There are many health concerns over such a rise, including: vector-borne diseases, dengue fever and malaria. Also, heat waves will liekly kill more people than the 70,000 people killed Europe in 2003.

Another consideration — crop yields will decline and starvation will rise. Gastroenteritis and malnutrition will increase due to water shortages.

“Extreme climactic events such as flash flooding due to changing rainfall patterns and melting ice sheets will hinder the world’s sewage systems, leading to diarrhea and other problems,” said Dr. Hugh Montgomery, director of UCL’s Institute for Human Health and Performance. “Severe cyclones and hurricanes will also take more lives.”

“We have a moral dilemma: How do we protect the health of the poorest people in the world and allow them to develop,” Maslin said.

“There are so many public health issues associated with global warming that certainly, once it becomes a significant problem, it will be the most significant public health problem at that point in time,” said Donnelly.

“This is a problem that affects the entire planet, and the longer it takes ‘us,’ the people on this planet, to take action, the more difficult it will be to resolve the problem,” Donnelly continued. “We urgently need to take at least minimal action to try to reduce emissions and move toward taking more significant action to reduce global warming.”

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