People’s Health Worldwide Is At The Mercy Of Global Addiction To Fossil Fuels
Common sense investments in renewable energy and climate resilience will secure a healthier, safer life for people in every country
A persistent fossil fuel overdependence has pushed the world into global energy and cost-of-living crises. As these crises unfold, climate change escalates unabated. Its worsening impacts are increasingly affecting the foundations of human health and wellbeing.
According to Lancet Countdown report released today the health of the world’s people is at the mercy of a global addiction to fossil fuels. The analysis reports an increase in heat deaths, hunger and infectious disease as the climate crisis intensifies, while governments continue to give more in subsidies to fossil fuels than to the poorer countries experiencing the impacts of global heating.
The report tracks 43 health and climate indicators, including exposure to extreme heat. It found that heat-related deaths in the most vulnerable populations – babies under a year old and adults over 65 – increased by 68% over the past four years compared with 2000-04.
About 30% more land is now affected by extreme drought events, compared with the 1950s. Hot periods in 2020 were associated with 98 million more people unable to get the food they needed, compared with the average from 1981-2010, and the proportion of the global population enduring food insecurity is also rising.
Climate crisis is undermining not just our health through toxic air pollution but changing weather patterns- extreme heat, drought, floods, diminishing food security, higher risks of infectious disease outbreaks.
Common sense investments in renewable energy and climate resilience will secure a healthier, safer life for people in every country.
The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, a known Environmentalist, Journalist and Communications Expert
