The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from December 7-18, has just taken on a whole new meaning. Separate reports, including a study commissioned by the University College London, and open letters by eighteen medical organizations published in the British Medical Journal and The Lancet, state that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century and the ramifications of climate change will put the lives and well-being of billions of people at increased risk.
The letter calls on doctors worldwide to put pressure on politicians to take action in Copenhagen.
“There is a real danger that politicians will be indecisive," explained the doctors authoring the letter. "We call on doctors to demand that their politicians listen to the clear facts that have been identified in relation to climate change and act now."
Climate change, especially one that brings about more than a 2C (3.6F) global average temperature increase will lead to massive changes in weather patterns, storms, uncertain crop yields, famines, floods, disease and the spread of animal and insect borne illness as migration patterns and habitats change.
By now, we should all know that eating healthy also means a low carbon intensive diet, such as eating less meat, poultry and eggs, buying more local healthy produce and eating organic. Ditching the car and riding the bike to work, simply commuting using public transport and walking more, these all reduce carbon emissions and improve your personal health and the health of the planet.
Although it makes sense to change individual habits, what is absolutely needed is a master plan to reduce emissions from polluting industries, closing coal-fired power stations or making carbon scrubbing and sequestration work, increasing renewable energy and the introduction of differential carbon-tax rates in each country and on carbon-intensive imports. Technology growth, population growth, consumption and the destruction of forests, pollution of the oceans, lakes and rivers, all need to be taken into consideration and reduced with immediacy.
The 190 countries that meet in Copenhagen have to come up with a meaningful plan to replace Kyoto, with no dissenters and strong leaders. We are already 30 years behind on acting on the seriousness of global warming, the US, Australia and Canada for example, just lost another decade with their inaction over Kyoto.
Now is the time to make some noise and get involved. Call your local politician and tell them you want your country to support strong action at Copenhagen, now even your health may depend on it.
Resources
BMJ: http://www.bmj.com/
The Lancet: http://www.thelancet.com/
Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specialising in renewable energy, power grid modelling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites. He is the author of the Eco-Geek blog.
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