My coping mechanisms have their limits though. Sometimes when I look at my children, I have an overwhelming feeling of foreboding. I don't know how to prepare them for a future that I am certain will be wrought with conflict and hunger. My children will whine to me that there is "nothing" in the house to eat, when there is no less than three boxes of cereal, instant oatmeal, fruit in the crisper, and an untold amount of food in the refrigerator waiting to be prepared. When I remind them of these facts, they will say, "But I don't want to eat that." How will they survive in a world where you eat what you can find and where you fight to protect what meager provisions you gather?
What causes these thoughts to run through my head? Climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that inaction on climate will cause "pervasive and irreversible" damage to people and ecosystems. Year after year, the predictions get more dire and the scientists express alarm at the rate of environmental changes, yet our political leaders continue to punt the ball.
In Paris, President Obama expressed what I'd been feeling about climate change versus all the other issues he contends with on a daily basis. The President talked about how he handles tough issues every day, but despite their gravity, he remains encouraged because their potential impacts are finite and their solutions are attainable. A small smile escaped his lips as he uttered the words "tough issues," a likely nod to political rankling that slows action on any number of issues. That smile evaporates though when he turns to climate change. His body language makes it clear that he has no patience for political rankling in this area and that he is deeply troubled by climate change. With a solemn grimace, the President warns that "there is such a thing as being too late."
I was at a meeting a month ago discussing upcoming health priorities for the Latin American and Caribbean region. I raised climate change and you could hear a pin drop. Radio silence. It is as if our fear of climate change has paralyzed us. We know it is a problem, but hope that it is one for a later date. The signs are all around us. We can not afford to stick our heads in the sand any longer. Each year, heat levels break the record from the preceding year. Massive floods and droughts are becoming more common worldwide and record-breaking wildfires are becoming more difficult to contain.
In 2010, United Nations (UN) Member States established the Green Climate Fund to "expand collective human action to respond to climate change." The advanced economies of the UN Member States agreed to mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020 to address climate change. To date, roughly $10 billion has been raised. $10 billion is but a drop in a bucket for economies whose budgets run in the trillions and for global companies who see multi-billion level profits quarterly. We can do more and must encourage our leaders and businesses to do more, especially the global health community.
Climate change is having and will have tremendous impacts on global health. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause roughly 250,000 deaths annually from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress alone. Total climate-related deaths will likely be much higher, as the WHO estimate does not include deaths from floods and other climate changes. From 1970-2012, for example, 1.94 million people died from extreme temperatures, floods, tropical cyclones, and related health epidemics. Climate change is accelerating and the figures in 2030 will likely be substantially higher.
The IPCC declared in its 2014 report that "climate change is a threat to sustainable development." That means that all of the progress made over the past decade in eliminating poverty and improving health worldwide can be eviscerated by climate change. The running theme of this blog has been advancing partnerships and strengthening health systems to improve global health worldwide. Climate change demands that we change our modus operandi. We must start crossing sectors not only to address the pervasive health challenges but also to prepare for the looming health threats climate change promises to bring.
