Climate Change Emergency Medical Response Blog

Medical Response Climate Change Emergency

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:04:23 GMT

The world is in an unprecedented climate change emergency. What role can doctors and other health care professionals play to save humanity and most life on Earth?

State of the Climate

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:09:39 GMT

State of the Climate is a research summary on methane emissions and other carbon feedbacks, especially in the Arctic, which threaten life on Earth.

Follow-Up

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:22:44 GMT

Follow-up is a list of ways that doctors and other healthcare workers can disseminate and teach what they have learned about the global climate change emergency.

Who Are We?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:55:19 GMT

Who are we? CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE is a growing resource for health care professionals who understand the urgent need to build a global medical response to climate change.

Reports of the Fifth Horseman

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:42:35 GMT

On May 29, two of the most important studies on global climate change were released. The sad thing is they both presented the terrible situation that the world's most climate change vulnerable and most economically deprived now face. The numbers at high risk this century are in the billions. These two reports are further proof that global climate change is certain to be the greatest crime against humanity ever, of unimaginable proportion. The reason this is practically certain is that today's level of global warming will double in the next few decades and at least triple by 2100. This follows from the basic global warming science. Today's atmospheric greenhouse gas levels do not heat the planet for several decades and today's global greenhouse gas emissions are still accelerating. What is the saddest thing of all is that the general prevailing attitude in the well off nations is to avoid depressing climate change news. Since global climate has become undeniable gloom and doom is the new taboo. Another big reason why we are silent witnesses to such a crime is a UN report Risk and Poverty in a Changing Climate. It explains that global climate change is going to magnify risk but it is also going to magnify risk because of increasing hazard and decreasing resilience. The Global Humanity Forum released The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis which amazingly is the first comprehensive report into the human cost of climate change. It warns the world is in the throes of a 'silent crisis' that is already killing 300,000 people each year. For hundreds of thousands of people climate change catastrophe is now. For tens of millions of people catastrophe is not far away. The reason as the UN reports covers is that global climate change does not just increase disease suffering and death it is the deadly multiplier. It is the fifth horseman of the Apocalypse. Climate change is the leader and the other four follow in its wake. It is not acceptable that nations called civilized are not raising a hand to stop the Fifth Horseman. If these nations don't stop him now they will be next in line, as sure as our emissions today will heat the planet for a thousand years.

Climate Change Dangers of Concern for Health Care Professionals

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:45:11 GMT

Climate change dangers of concern for health care professionals include lack of policy on the risk of public health catastrophe.

2 Degrees C is Unmanageable

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:27:50 GMT

On 16 May 2009, The Lancet and the University College of London published a special and very important review paper, Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change. The paper observed that the medical profession has not been actively engaged in the issue and urged the profession to do so. The paper made headlines with its correct conclusion that global climate change will be the top health issue of the 21st century. It will also be the top issue for the survival of most, if not eventually all, humanity. Sadly, The Lancet supported some fatally false but widely accepted assumptions. At the outset the paper states that 2 degrees C is the "safe threshold." To give the impression that global warming up to 2 degree C is safe is wrong in all aspects of the protection of human life and health, as this site explains (see 2 Degree Target). We have potentially catastrophic changes happening in the Arctic right now at today's global warming of only 0.78 degrees C. The 2 degree C target is a political target. According to the science, it is far from safe and, as James Hansen says, it is disastrous. The UN negotiations are also assuming the disastrous 2 degree C is safe and no one is insisting that this be corrected. All the published science from 1989 to 2009 says that anything over 1 degree C cannot be assumed to be safe. Bill Hare, writing in the World Watch 2009 State of the Planet, covers the issue and says that it is now too late to avoid exceeding a 2 degree C temperature increase, so we have to plan to peak above 2 degrees C for as short a time as possible and then get down to 1 degree C as fast as possible. So job one for the health professions is to research how safe the 2 degree C policy target is. If the world plans to get the global warming level back to 2 degrees C after overshooting it - instead of aiming for 1 degree C or less of warming - we have a prescription for global climate catastrophe. What a difference a degree can make. Next week, more on what the message from the Arctic means.

IPCC Reasons for Concern

Sat, 16 May 2009 05:36:36 GMT

The IPCC reasons for concern are designed to help policymakers define dangerous climate change. But they leave out the gravest dangers.

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Sat, 16 May 2009 04:59:19 GMT

Physicians for Social Responsibility is the medical and public health voice working to slow, stop and reverse global warming.

UNEP 2009 Year Book and Climate Change

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:49:32 GMT

The UNEP 2009 Year Book and Climate Change chapter explain why action on reducing global warming greenhouse gas emissions is so urgent.

Emergency Action

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:06:09 GMT

EMERGENCY ACTION is a one-stop webpage for doctors and other health care professionals who want to respond to the climate change emergency.

Climate Change Resolutions for the New Year 2009

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:10:04 GMT

Governments, environmental NGOs, magazines and books have for the past 20 years been encouraging the public to make lifestyle changes in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Clearly it hasn't worked. We are emitting more GHGs than ever and at the fastest rate of acceleration ever. Having said that, the biggest lifestyle change for cutting personal GHG emissions, which is also good for environmental health and personal health, is usually ignored. That, of course, is giving up the Western meat-heavy diet. Meat consumption is, in general, not included in the breakdown of sources of GHG emissions. Agriculture is quite energy intensive. Even though improved farming practices have made it less so over recent years, most breakdowns of global GHG emissions put agriculture at 12. In 2006, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization made something of a stir by reporting that the meat industry is responsible for up to 18 of global GHG emissions. A large percentage of this is from factoring in the effect of deforestation for livestock purposes. The meat industry emissions also include the not insignificant methane emissions from the guts of the ruminants that end up on the dinner (lunch and breakfast) table. In September of 2008, the IPCC chair, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, made the news by advising people to consider their meat consumption as an important option in reducing personal GHG emissions. If meat were carbon costed, he said, the price would increase and meat consumption would drop, from which we would all benefit. Whatever the numbers, the case for reducing meat consumption worldwide is now overwhelming and Dr. Pachauri is right to point this out. But the very opposite is happening and this certainly is a trend that needs looking at. The world is eating more eat. World meat consumption has more than tripled in the past 50 years and the rate of increase is projected to continue this century. Every region in the world except Sub-Saharan Africa is steadily eating more meat. Dietary advice from health professionals has become relevant to global as well as personal survival. Recommending a diet lower in meat consumption is one easy way that the health care community can take action on global climate change. Here is to a year of delicious vegetarian feasting!

Wishing You Happy and Healthy Holidays 2008

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:31:22 GMT

Is there any good global climate change news? Actually, yes. The very best news is that the new US President-elect, Barack Obama, won the US election on a campaign that recognized the state of global climate change emergency. Without world leaders recognizing the emergency, catastrophe looms ever larger and closer. Obama has recognized that we all inhabit "a planet in peril" (from his victory speech, 5 November 2008) and has promised that the US will be a leader in addressing the global climate change emergency. Check out this video of Obama on renewable energy. Obama could not have chosen a better team to advise his administration on the science of global climate change. http://www.nationalacademies.org/headlines/20081223.html This is a good start -- and a hopeful start. It shows the leadership needed for the great changes that have to be made to our world in the 2009 new year. We can do it, with peace and goodwill to all humanity today and in the future. December 23, 2008 - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has selected academy members Steven Chu, John P. Holdren, and Jane Lubchenco as his nominees for secretary of energy, chief science adviser, and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. U.S. Secretary of Energy - Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics and of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is actively engaged in finding ways to address the world's energy demands and has challenged scientists to find environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuels.
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/energy/index.htm President's Science Adviser - John P. Holdren was named to direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President. Holdren is a professor of environmental policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a specialist in nuclear arms control, global climate change, and energy technologies.
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/john-holdren Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Jane Lubchenco, environmental scientist and marine ecologist. The NOAA oversees ocean and atmospheric studies and research on global warming. Lubchenco is an Oregon State University researcher who specializes in the study of overfishing and climate change. She has served as committee member for many Academies studies, including Ecological Impacts of Climate Change.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12491

Australian Medical Association and Climate Change

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:32:58 GMT

The Australian Medical Association and Climate Change page shows the AMA's 2004 position statement on climate change and human health.

BMA and Climate Change

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:32:26 GMT

The BMA and Climate Change - How the British Medical Association is taking action on "the biggest environmental concern facing the world today."

Climate and Health Council Pledge

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:31:46 GMT

The UK's Cimate and Health Council gives healthcare professionals the opportunity to sign a pledge "to protect health through active engagement to limit the causes of human-caused climate change."

Climate Change Emergency Declaration

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:31:07 GMT

We call on our healthcare professional associations and our governments to make a climate change emergency declaration on behalf of present and future vulnerable populations.

Ignored Climate Science

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:29:44 GMT

Often ignored climate science includes essential aspects of global climate science to explain why today's global warming is twice what we think it is.

Why Climate Change is an Emergency

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:29:02 GMT

Here is abundant evidence showing why climate change is an emergency and an increasing threat to the very survival of humanity.

Defining Dangerous Climate Change

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:28:27 GMT

Defining dangerous climate change impacts and risks in terms of threats to human population health and survival is something the health care profession is qualified to do.

Evidence

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:27:51 GMT

Just as doctors seek evidence when making a diagnosis, this page links to evidence of the climate change emergency for health professionals who want to learn about their role in mitigation.

Climate Change Emergency Updates

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:27:03 GMT

Check out these climate change emergency updates on a regular basis, to see what's new in the science of global climate change.

Climate Change Emergency References

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:26:04 GMT

This climate change emergency references page lists the citations of research studies on the current state of the climate and why it is heading to climate catastrophe.

Mission of Climate Change Emergency Medical Response

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:22:43 GMT

The mission of CCEMR is to provide a one-stop planetary emergency education and remedial action site for the health care profession.