New report labels climate change a ‘medical emergency’

The second Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change outlines the danger to humanity from increased heat waves, floods, droughts and storms, as well as indirect health impacts such as air pollution, food shortages, and disease. The Commission says that the technology and finance to mitigate against global warming and its effects are available, but that the political will to implement them is lacking.

“Climate change is a medical emergency,” says Professor Hugh Montgomery, director of the University College London (UCL) Institute for Human Health and Performance, and co-chair of the Commission.

“It thus demands an emergency response, using the technologies available right now. Under such circumstances, no doctor would consider a series of annual case discussions and aspirations adequate, yet this is exactly how the global response to climate change is proceeding.”

According to the report, if emissions remain constant, we will reach a tipping point between the next 13 and 24 years that is likely to raise global temperatures by more than 2 °C  - the threshold set by experts for avoiding the worst effects of climate change.