Climate change is a health issue
Climate change is portrayed as an economic issue and is highly politicised, but fundamentally, climate change is a health issue. Climate change causes disease and it makes us sick. Climate change can kill us.
We can treat it.
We can treat climate change like we treat any other life threatening condition. We can act to reduce the health threats and to prepare ourselves for our changed world. We can stop making it worse and we can try to repair the damage we have made.
Climate Change is scary, it’s overwhelming and it’s a global problem on a massive scale, but we need to face up to it so we can act to save ourselves and all the beauteous wonder of our amazing world.
Our planet is worth saving and so are we.
Climate Medicine is dedicated to treating the health effects of climate change, to finding ways to reduce harm and to protect the health of humankind and of our planet.
“We need to move beyond guilt or blame and get on with the practical tasks at hand.”
Sir David Attenborough
CLIMATE DISEASE
Global warming and climate change are the greatest public health threats facing humanity.
They are truly life threatening problems with profound impacts on all people and all nations. The World Medical Association (WMA) declared a climate emergency in October 2019, joining the growing list of medical groups who are calling for rapid decarbonisation and action to protect human health.
Global warming harms our natural world causing hotter land and sea temperatures, more extreme weather events, more extreme bushfires and heat waves, rising sea levels and ocean acidification. This threatens our food and water supply, threatens our air quality and increases disease transmission. It leaves us vulnerable to the effects of heat-related illnesses including heat stroke, heart failure and kidney disease.
In Australia we are particularly prone to heat waves, water insecurity from droughts and floods and the respiratory effects of bushfires and pollution. We are beginning to see climate refugees in Australian populations with people moving away from areas of high vulnerability and we are seeing a change in disease transmission especially of mosquito borne diseases. Unsurprisingly we are suffering psychologically from climate change, with many of us experiencing eco-anxiety and climate grief.
We can treat these problems. We can treat the various individual diseases and we can treat the causes of the problem by stopping the use of fossil fuels and stopping deforestation. We can try to repair the damage by reforestation and regenerative agriculture. We can save the last wild places and we can carefully manage our water resources to protect our ecology and ourselves.
Let’s remedy the blight on our planet that is climate change.
ReFerences
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32596-6/fulltext
https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-resolution-on-climate-emergency/
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/category/health/
UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES
The biggest driver of global warming and climate change is the burning of fossil fuels. When we burn coal, oil and gas we release heat and this heat warms the planet. The second main driver is deforestation which releases stored carbon and prevents forests from absorbing the excess heat produced by burning fossil fuels. Deforestation also causes biodiversity loss, which further threatens human health.
Currently we have increased the global average temperature by about one degree above the preindustrial average and our actions are adding more heat, such that if we continue on our current course we will reach about 3 degrees of global warming by 2100. Most concerning is that tipping points, whereby we cannot reverse the damage are estimated to be reached at between 1 and 2 degrees.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends limiting global warming to 1.5°C and to do this we must rapidly decarbonise our economy and way of living. Unfortunately, Fossil Fuel production is big business (US $4.65 trillion PA) and the coal, oil and gas lobby have been running a concerted and sadly effective propaganda campaign to muddy the science and stymie the transition to a carbon neutral world.
ReFERENCES
https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019
MANAGEMENT PLAN
We can treat it
We have the technology available to us now to transition away from a fossil fuel world to a renewable one.
We can provide electricity to the entire planet with our current renewable energy technology.
We can have all our transport powered by renewable energy.
We can provide nutritious food to the entire planet with our current agricultural knowledge.
We can draw down the most abundant greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, by widespread global reforestation.
We need to act
It is the tragedy of our time, that our political system is failing to transition in any meaningful way. Our global emissions continue to rise and in Australia it seems that our government cannot grasp the true magnitude and seriousness of the problem. We cannot wait for them to act. We must start to act ourselves.
The multi-national corporations making big money from destroying our planet are not going to give up their market share. We need to boycott them.
If we as individuals act to treat climate change and if we support the growing number of businesses who act to treat climate change then we create a positive effect, we create the solutions and we make it harder and harder for our politicians and dirty fossil fuel companies to turn the other way.
DECLARE A CLIMATE EMERGENCY
STOP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS
REFOREST THE PLANET
PROTECT OUR WATER
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM
As individuals it may seem that our actions are insignificant but collectively these actions add up to create major changes. Each individual can have massive effects on the world depending upon what they choose to do. Greta Thunberg is one person, so is David Attenborough and Donald Trump. We all need to take ownership for our actions because treating climate change requires concerted action from everybody. No-one gets to sit this one out, climate change affects us all.
10 THINGS WE CAN ALL DO
LEARN for your climate. We all need to understand the problem. Look it up. The Emissions Gap Report is a great place to start.
TALK for your climate. Talking to each other helps us learn and helps us network to create positive change. Most Australians are concerned about climate change so we don’t need to be shy.
EAT for your climate. Eating more plants and less meat, eating locally sourced food and not wasting food can dramatically reduce our footprint. The Planetary Health Diet is designed to both limit warming and feed the planet.
WATER for your climate. Water is a precious resource. We can act to conserve water, with rain water tanks and urban design and we can support policies that prioritise peoples water needs over those of mining and water intensive crops.
PLANT for your climate. Get in the garden, grow your own food and get involved with tree planting schemes. Trees use carbon dioxide to grow and are our best tool to reduce atmospheric carbon.
POWER for your climate. Switch to a renewable energy provider and turn off the gas. Buy panels and a battery if you can afford to.
TRANSPORT for your climate. Use public transport, walk or cycle whenever you can. Look at getting an electric car or a hybrid. Try not to fly.
FINANCE for your climate. Divest your banking, super and insurance from institutions that support fossil fuels to those that don’t. Invest ethically and support businesses that are trying to do the right thing.
VOTE for your climate. It is vital that we have a political response to the climate crisis. Compare the parties climate policies and think climate when you vote. Contact your representatives and tell them to act on the climate crisis. Sign petitions, write letters, visit politicians and attend peaceful protests.
ACT for your climate. Ask yourself what you can do to help? Maybe you can get involved with a local tree planting group. Maybe you’re good with finances and can help your friends divest. Maybe you have a new and novel idea that could make a positive change. Why not try it out?
Now is the time for us all to act to save our planet.
Climate Medicine acknowledges that it is based in Tarndanya (Adelaide) on Kaurna land.
The Kaurna are the traditional owners of what is now called the Adelaide plains and have never ceded sovereignty of their land. Respect is owed to all Kaurna people.
Climate Medicine acknowledges that the nation called Australia is stolen Aboriginal Land. Respect is owed to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island nations and First Nations people.
