Climate change and public health

  There are few contemporary issues as ubiquitous as that of climate change^{1, 2}. Yet, even with all this coverage of its current and potential implications, we are in a rather peculiar situation insofar as real action on it seems extremely slow if not completely absent. Seemingly, we are in a state of denial towards a problem that, if left unchecked, could lead to a catastrophe on par with nuclear war³!  

 What is the correlation between this and medicine however, you may be asking? The answer is that climate change cannot be separated from its public health implications. People are already suffering from its effects and the future impact has been predicted to include changing food production worldwide and associated malnutrition; an increase in tropical diseases and waterborne illnesses and a generally increased worldwide burden of illness⁴ We in the UK will also be unable to escape the effects⁵ and it will be our generation of medical students that will have to treat those affected.

 This leads to the question: what can we do? Firstly, and most importantly, we must realize that there is still scope for change as, unlike many other public health issues, we have the possibility to hugely mitigate the effects of this potential disaster. However, this action must occur now; and this is why action on climate change carries with it such a sense of urgency. As terrible as all this sounds there is hope as we have the potential to actually at best stop, and, at worst, reduce this problem. In fact, I think we have a duty to do something about this problem as by ignoring it we are in fact accepting it.

 What can we as medical students then do to tackle the causes of climate change? It is easy to believe that individual actions such as cutting back on driving and/or buying local are solutions but one mustn’t be fooled into thinking that, laudable as these practices are, they will ever address a problem as huge as this. The only solution to a global problem like this is governmental action and government action that starts today. This could start by supporting the BMJ in its call for the implementation of a worldwide policy of carbon contraction and convergance² or by joining pressure groups for change such as I count or Medact⁶. For further reading on policies for change in the UK I would recommend reading the report “Zero Carbon Britain”, produced by CAT⁷. Any action, we must remember, is better than no action.

 This summer I personally tried to do something by attending the Camp for Climate Action⁸ by Heathrow Airport which was set up to highlight the hypocrisy of a government that encourages us to change our light bulbs to more energy efficient ones whilst continuing to expand airports (the biggest growing contributor to Carbon emissions in the UK⁹). Many environmental activists as well as climate scientists and concerned people gathered to discuss strategies for change all demonstrating many differing ideas at how to avert this disaster. From my experience there, I have realized the ideas for change are abundant and that all we need is action.

 Climate change is but one example of our ruinous relationship with the natural environment but it is the most important element of it as it has the potential to fundamentally alter the viability of life on this planet. As future doctors we will be in a unique position to influence policy making in our respective areas and it is my view that this is why we should treat Climate change as the most pressing issue that there is. The clock is ticking but, even still, we shouldn’t underestimate the power that we have to effect the future direction of our planet. The quality of life of future generations and their health is very much in our hands.

1)       The anthropogenic basis of climate change is no longer debated within the scientific community; please see report of the Royal Society. http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=1630

2)       Stott, Godlee. What should we do about climate change? Health Professions need to act now both collectively and individually. BMJ  2006;333:983-984 (11 November)

3)       Comparison made in the most recent report of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. http://www.iiss.org.uk/

4)       WHO climate and health fact sheet. http://www.who.int/globalchange/news/fsclimandhealth/en/index.html.

5)       Parliamentary office of Science and Technology report. UK Health Implication of Climate Change http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/POSTpn232.pdf)

6)       See http://www.icount.org.uk/ or http://www.medact.org/

7)       CAT is the Centre for Alternative Technology and their report can be seen at http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com/ 

8)       Website for the Camp for Climate Action. http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/

9)       Tyndall Centre for climate change research report: “Contraction and convergence UK Carbon emissions and the implications for UK air traffic”. http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/research/theme2/final_reports/t3_23.pdf