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Doctors Call for Action on Climate Change
WASHINGTON, DC, Decenber 13, 2001 (ENS) - With the release this week
of the latest in a line of National Academy of Sciences reports that warn of the
potentially devastating environmental and health effects of global climate
change, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has called on President
George W. Bush to take urgent action to prevent a climate catastrophe.
Physicians for Social Responsibility represents more than 20,000
physicians, nurses and health care professionals devoted to nuclear
disarmament, violence prevention and environmental health.
"There can be no higher priority for our nation's security and the health
of the planet than curbing global climate change," said PSR's Executive
Director and CEO, Robert Musil, Ph.D. "This NAS report should be the last
wake up call the Bush administration needs. To not respond with action is
to risk American security and the public's health."
The new report, "Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises," states that
"greenhouse warming and other human alterations of the earth system may
increase the possibility of large, abrupt, and unwelcome regional and
global climatic events."
"Because climate change will likely continue in the coming decades, denying
the likelihood or downplaying the relevance of past abrupt events could be
costly," the National Academy of Sciences cautioned.
A series of PSR reports called "Death by Degrees" has documented in detail, state by
state, the potential for climate change to affect human society and health.
Higher temperatures and increased weather activity can cause an increase in
heat related illness and death, worsen air quality with increasing cases of
respiratory illness such as asthma, decrease water quantity and diminish
water quality, and affect the spread of insect populations that carry
diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
Additional effects from sea level rise, flooding and drought can affect
human settlements and food production globally and may produce large
numbers of refugees subject to further disease and civil unrest.
The new National Academy of Sciences report is more urgent than previous
warnings it has released dating back to the 1972. It underscores the
possibility of larger and more sudden changes than have generally been
predicted including sudden snaps in average global temperature of up to 10
degrees Celsius.
Such a change would be even larger than the shift from the Ice Age to the
current world climate system that has supported the development of human
agriculture, civilization, and adaptation to disease.
"Now is the time for the Bush Administration to admit that it needs to work
with the Senate to develop a new energy plan, said Musil. "The U.S. needs
to invest in responsible energy strategies that will curb greenhouse gas
emissions. The only way protect ourselves is to decrease our reliance on
fossil fuels."
Physicians for Social Responsibility has been advocating that the United
States clean up old and dirty power plants, invest in renewable energy
sources, improve energy efficiency of appliances, and increase the fuel
efficiency of cars and light trucks.
"There is no more time to waste," said Musil. "The effects indicated by the
new NAS report and by PSR's research could be as devastating as terrorist
attacks. The Administration needs to act
accordingly."
At PSR's online Legislative Action Center there are quick links to
email the President, Congressional leaders, the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal
officials responsible for public health.
Physicians for Social Responsibility's Environment & Health Program is
building a national Environment and Health Network of physicians, public
health professionals and supporters. Through this network they are working
to link activists and issue experts working on similar issues across the
country, build grassroots campaigns to educate people about key
environmental health policies, and persuade local, state and federal
officials to safeguard public health and the environment more effectively.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2001. All rights reserved. |
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