The Lancet’s latest report on health and climate change details dire consequences of not addressing climate change—including greater risk of both infectious and non-communicable diseases as well as threatening our food and water supply.
Representing the consensus view of 43 academic institutions and UN agencies,the sixth Lancet Countdown “expose[s] an unabated rise in the health impacts of climate change and the current health consequences of the delayed and inconsistent response of countries around the globe.”
Climate change is “increasing the suitability for the transmission of many water-borne, air-borne, food-borne, and vector-borne pathogens,” says the executive summary. “Although socioeconomic development, public health interventions, and advances in medicine have reduced the global burden of infectious disease transmission, climate change could undermine eradication efforts.”
These diseases include…malaria, dengue virus, Zika virus, and cholera. Basically, diseases you really don’t want around.
Beyond infectious disease, extreme heat has widespread health consequences—from making it unsafe to exercise outside (increasing risk of cardiovascular disease and mental health concerns) and increasing mortality from wildfires, to posing threats to water security, sanitation, and the food supply.
Read: A very simple explanation of the science behind carbon and climate change
But all is not lost. Solutions for reducing emissions and slowing warming already exist—from low-carbon fuels to agricultural technology that removes carbon from the soil.
We’ll say it again: We have to “science our way out” of climate change, BIO’s Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath wrote in STAT News—and biotechnology must play a “pivotal role” in reducing emissions and stopping warming.
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Bloomberg: Roadmap to COP26
“The U.K. hosts describe the aims for this COP as ‘coal, cars, cash and trees.’ That means ending the use of the most polluting fossil fuel; phasing out the internal combustion engine; raising cash to help developing countries transition to cleaner energy and protect against the ravages of climate change; and reversing deforestation. They also aim to figure out global rules for pricing and trading carbon globally.”
