A visual of the landslide at Koottikal in Kottayam, Kerala in 2021. Photo credit: Vishnu Pratapani
The story so far: While countries are meeting at the ongoing Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, a recent report knife, the close relationship between changing weather events and their impact on people’s health is explored in detail. 2022 knife Countdown to Health and Climate Change: Health at the Mercy of Fossil Fuels reports that the world’s dependence on fossil fuels increases the risk of disease, food insecurity and other heat-related ailments.
What is the outline of the report?
For a long time, much of the world believed that those who were predicting the harmful effects of climate change were part of a doomsday plot with a touch of theatrics. It is now increasingly clear that the harmful effects of climate change not only have the potential to seriously disrupt life, but are already upon us. Climate change is not an isolated event or phenomenon, but a global phenomenon, which leaves its impact on almost every aspect of life, world-wide in its train nations, regardless of whether they have contributed to it or not. 2022 knife The countdown report comes at a time when the world is facing the threat of climate change. It says: “Countries and health systems continue to grapple with the health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continued fossil fuel dependence have raised global energy and cost-of-living costs to the world pushed into. Problem. As these crises unfold, climate change goes unabated. Its worsening effects are increasingly affecting the foundations of human health and well-being, leaving the world’s population vulnerable to concurrent health threats.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and safe shelter.
knife Report shows rapidly rising temperatures expose people, especially vulnerable populations (adults over age 65 and children under one) to 3.7 billion more heatwave days in 2021 than annually in 1986-2005 be exposed.
How is it increasing infectious diseases?
The changing climate is affecting the spread of infectious disease, increasing the risk of emerging diseases and co-epidemics. For example, it records that coastal waters are becoming more favorable for the transmission of Vibrio pathogens. It also states that the number of months suitable for malaria transmission has increased in the high altitude regions of the Americas and Africa.
The WHO predicts that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause about 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
What about food security?
Climate change is affecting every aspect of food security. Along with shortening the growing season of many cereal crops, higher temperatures directly threaten crop yields. Extreme weather events disrupt supply chains, reducing food availability, access, sustainability and use. The prevalence of undernourishment increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 161 million more people faced hunger in 2020 than in 2019. The situation is now made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the report underlines.
Is the world dependent on fossil fuels?
The war has prompted many countries to search for alternative fuels to Russian oil and gas, and some of them are still turning to conventional thermal energy. The report argues that even if implemented as a temporary transition, a renewed shift to coal could reverse any gains made in improving air quality and propel the world toward a future of accelerated climate change. which may threaten human existence. Instead, the transition to clean energy forms will undoubtedly be the sustainable way forward.
Are there any solutions?
But the report isn’t all gloom and doom. It added that a health-focused response to co-existing climate, energy and livelihood crises offers an opportunity to deliver a healthy, low-carbon future. It added that a health-focused response may be starting to emerge. Measuring the increasing coverage of health and climate change in the media, the commitment of governments to assess and address threats from climate change are positive signs, the report emphasized. This is how a health-focused response would work – it would reduce the likelihood of the most devastating effects of climate change, while creating opportunities for economic recovery and improved energy security. Improving air quality will help prevent deaths from exposure to ambient PM2.5 derived from fossil fuels, and promote physical activity resulting from stress on low-carbon travel and increased urban spaces whose physical and mental health will have an effect. The report also calls for a quick transition to balanced and more plant-based diets, as this will help reduce emissions from red meat and milk production, and prevent diet-related deaths, in addition to the risks of zoonotic diseases. can be reduced to a great extent. The report indicates that such health-focused changes will reduce the burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, reduce stress on health care providers, and lead to more robust health systems.
Despite these increases, it is true that the data shows that the speed and scale of climate change adaptation, planning and resilience are inadequate. In this context, the report calls for global coordination, funding, transparency, and collaboration among governments, communities, civil society, businesses, and public health leaders to reduce or prevent the vulnerabilities from which the world otherwise exposed.