Code red: Climate change and your future health

Gregory P. Foy
·3 min read

I am in Glasgow, Scotland at the COP26 United Nations Climate Summit where the world is grappling with a multitude of issues surrounding climate change, including its effects on human health. I had the chance to sit down with Dr. Sarah Whitmee, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, to talk about climate change and human health. She said, “Climate change poses a clear and present danger to the health of people all over the world. Its effects are already being felt and, if left unaddressed, will lead to a health emergency far outstripping COVID 19. The recent pandemic has served as a warning about how unprepared we are to deal with global health challenges and what can happen if we ignore this warning.”

It was a stunning statement and left me with an urgent desire to share her expertise with my community.

November 5, 2021: An iceberg delivered by members of Arctic Basecamp is placed on show near the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The four ton block of ice, originally part of a larger glacier, was brought from Greenland to Glasgow by climate scientists from Arctic Basecamp as a statement to world leaders of the scale of the climate crisis and a visible reminder of what Arctic warming means for the planet.

Perhaps health warnings from medical experts will provide the momentum needed to finally act with purpose to limit the effects of climate change. Science has long predicted that increasing temperatures will lead to increases in severe weather events, something we have already experienced and see in news reports. Thirty years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its First Assessment Report highlighting sea level rise as a growing danger. Recent severe weather events have been amplified by this sea level rise. Scientists have long predicted increases in wildfire threats and that fire prone areas would face year–round wildfire potential. This year alone, we have witnessed unprecedented fires scorching large swaths of our western states. It does not take long to find direct connections to the scientific warnings. The predicted droughts and floods of increased severity now play out in the realities that we see in headlines around the world.

The most recent IPCC assessment reports state that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that humans are responsible for recent warming. Numerous articles highlight the dangers we currently face and will continue to face for the foreseeable future—food insecurity, water shortages, increases in vector-borne diseases, and increases in the numbers of climate refugees on the move due to dire circumstances in their homelands. Indeed, the respected medical journal Lancet recently declared a “code red for a healthy future” in its 2021 Countdown on Health and Climate Change.

Moving into the second week of COP26, the solutions seem to focus mostly on economic and greenhouse gas issues, and clearly these are very important. But the COP has also made progress toward the integration of health into climate change policy. Just this week, 50 countries committed to developing climate-resilient & low-carbon health systems. Dr. Whitmee notes, “These commitments are a major step forward in tackling the greenhouse emissions from health care systems that collectively account for 4-5% of global emissions. As health professionals are highly trusted by the public around the world, they can play a major role in advocating for accelerated climate action by governments to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

Robust action in addressing climate change will result in multiple benefits for improving human health including reduced air pollution, food systems that support sustainable dietary choices, and reduced climate stress on mental health. Long-term benefits include greater food and water security, limiting infectious and water-borne diseases, and better worldwide stability. As COVID-19 has demonstrated, health systems can become overwhelmed by a global health emergency. Our planet has a fever that looms as a much larger, longer-term global health concern than even a pandemic.

There is no time to waste in the fight against Climate Change. The science is clear. The health effects are here. What will it take to move your needle? I suggest contacting your legislators to demand their support for climate action now. Vote for future legislators who will use known science to inform just policy. Going forward, we can only address our planetary fever with robust climate policies.

Gregory P. Foy is an associate professor of chemistry at York College of Pennsylvania.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Code red: Climate change and your future health