Climate Solutions Improve Health & Save Money
Credit to Author: NRDC| Date: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 12:10:06 +0000
Published on March 1st, 2020 | by NRDC
March 1st, 2020 by NRDC
Climate change is a public health crisis, and we need every doctor, nurse, and other health professional to help fight it.
Originally published on the NRDC Expert Blog.
Co-authored by Dr. Jonathan Patz and Dr. Valerie Stull
As the planet continues to break temperature records, the impacts of the climate crisis are getting worse by the day, and demanding urgent public responses, whether it’s unprecedented wildfires in Australia, record warmth in the Antarctic, or fears of prolonged drought in California.
And, as we write in a commentary published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, taking strong actions to fight climate change will have benefits across our energy, food, and transportation systems.
Given the huge present and future health and environmental threats posed by climate change, we’ve got to act fast and in new ways to cut carbon pollution and bolster community preparedness. While some argue it will cost us too much, the science shows just the opposite: Actions to drastically cut carbon pollution will help society to achieve many benefits, including cost savings, now and years to come.
Central to those benefits are huge improvements to our health.
Climate-driven threats to our health are a present danger, not some future science fiction. A recent NRDC study of a handful of such climate-related health harms identified $10 billion in health costs in just one recent year. Several of the costly health problems identified in that study, especially those tied to air pollution, can be significantly reduced in the near-term by addressing our addiction to fossil fuels.
Because climate change so clearly threatens our health, medical professionals are sounding the alarm. But beyond that, they’re also helping to explain why action on climate change can help to address many seemingly unrelated health challenges, from malnutrition and obesity to respiratory and heart disease.
Some key highlights from our piece:
Photo courtesy Kyle Field, CleanTechnica
As we redouble our efforts to cut pollution, we’ve also got to prioritize efforts to improve our ability to cope with the present day impacts of the climate crisis. Preparing communities for the health harms of climate change can reduce risks and help people avoid expensive trips to hospitals and emergency rooms.
As our commentary points out, the medical community can take a stronger role in standing up for climate action by helping to make clear that this problem has very real implications for the health and well-being of us all, because climate solutions can also deliver clear wins for public health.
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