A man wearing a mask paddles a boat as smoke from wildfires blankets Seattle, Washington
Reuters/Karen Ducey
Blame the world’s most devastating health problems on companies that continue to pursue oil and gas profits, even as climate change worsens heatwaves, intensifies flooding and disrupts people’s mental health. Inflicted, doctors are setting their sights on the fossil fuel industry.
“Burning fossil fuels is creating a health crisis that cannot be resolved by the time I see a patient in my emergency department,” Dr. Renee Salas summarizes the findings in a report released Tuesday in The Lancet. “Fossil fuel companies are making record profits while my patients suffer downstream health hazards.”
An emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Salas is one of nearly 100 authors contributing to the prestigious medical journal’s annual report on climate change and health.
The report accuses fossil fuel suppliers and the governments that subsidize them of undermining “efforts to achieve a low-carbon, healthy and livable future,” accusing world leaders of climate change. It calls for pursuing a health-centric approach to resolving the crisis.
The report’s themes reflect the growing frustration and helplessness expressed by health professionals who have to deal with the impacts of climate change as world leaders struggle to address the root causes. increase.
“This report highlights the real damage the fossil fuel industry has caused this crisis,” said Dr. Jerry Abraham, director and chief vaccinologist at Kedren Community Health Center in Los Angeles. “Enemies is a harsh word, but it must be used.”
As with previous reports, the 2022 Lancet Countdown paints a stark picture of how climate change is threatening people’s health and the care systems that are supposed to help manage it, highlighting its latest findings. called the most “disastrous” ever. This year’s report leaves little ambiguity about who doctors believe is responsible for the harm and stress they feel in their clinics.
An annual report catalogs the health impacts of global change, and a separate policy brief outlines impacts in the United States.
According to these reports:
- According to data comparing 2000-04 and 2017-21, worldwide heatstroke deaths increased by about 68% since the early 2000s, according to data comparing 2000-04 and 2017-21 doing. Extreme heat is linked to 98 million cases of hunger worldwide. In the United States, it is estimated that heat-related deaths among people over the age of 65 increased by about 74% over the same period.
- According to Salas, 1.2 million people died in 2020 from tiny particles released into the air as pollution during the use of fossil fuels.
- Changes in temperature, precipitation and population since the 1950s have increased the transmissibility of mosquito-borne diseases, with dengue, chikungunya and Zika all increasing by about 12%. In the United States, dengue fever was approximately 64% higher.
- Climate change is taking a toll on mental health. “There is strong evidence that climate change is associated with more depression, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety,” said lead author of the U.S. Policy Brief and University of Louisville School of Medicine. Assistant Professor Natasha K. DeJanet said.
There are signs of hope. The report notes increased investment in renewable energy, increased media coverage of climate change, and increased engagement of government leaders in health-centric climate policy. But the report warns that inequality could undermine progress.
