Doctors decry 'record profits' for fossil fuel companies as climate change weighs on global health
NBCOct 26, 2022
The annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report has warned that the world is edging closer to tipping points that will drive temperatures up and harm global health. Researchers based the results of the report on an examination of data from 103 countries.
The publication, which includes the work of 99 experts from organizations such as the WHO and is led by University College London, says the world's continued reliance on fossil fuels is increasing the risk to the global population of food insecurity, infectious disease, and heat-related illness.
Reports are increasingly clear — heat-related deaths worldwide have increased significantly since the start of the millennium, extreme heat is forcing millions across the globe into food poverty, and pollution is threatening the physical and mental wellbeing of the global population. Governments worldwide need to act to protect our health.
Despite claims that extreme weather poses a risk to global health, there has actually been a 92% decline in the per decade death toll from natural disasters since the 1920s. Rises in global temperature since industrialization have been relatively small and humans have proved their adaptability through new technology. Human health is not threatened by climate change, so long as populations have the resources to predict extreme weather and protect themselves from it.
There is a 38% chance that large scale solar radiation management will be used to mitigate the effects of climate change in the 21st century, according to the Metaculus prediction community.