Over 200 international health journals have collaboratively published an editorial emphasizing the interconnectedness of climate change and biodiversity loss, urging global leaders and healthcare professionals to address them as a single crisis.
They warn against viewing these issues in isolation and call upon the World Health Organization to declare this combined crisis a global health emergency. This joint editorial appears in influential publications worldwide, including The BMJ, The Lancet, JAMA, and several others.
Climate Crisis and Biodiversity Affect Human Health
Both climate crisis and nature crisis directly endanger human health, with a disproportionate impact on the most impoverished and vulnerable communities. Health risks are exacerbated by climate change, including elevated temperatures, extreme weather events, air pollution, and the proliferation of infectious diseases.
Contamination of clean water sources due to pollution has resulted in a surge in water-related illnesses. Furthermore, ocean acidification has disturbed the availability of seafood, which is crucial for the well-being and economic stability of billions of individuals.
Biodiversity loss not only impacts nutrition but also limits the discovery of medicinal compounds derived from nature. Changes in land use force numerous species into closer proximity, facilitating pathogen exchange and the emergence of new diseases.
Access to green spaces significantly improves community health by filtering air pollution, reducing temperatures, and promoting physical activity. Additionally, nature connection reduces stress, loneliness, and depression, encouraging social interaction, though these benefits are threatened by increasing urbanization.
In December 2022, the biodiversity conference (COP) committed to conserving at least 30% of the world's land and oceans by 2030. However, the authors highlight the disconnection between climate and nature scientists and the failure to fulfill many commitments, pushing ecosystems to the brink and heightening the risk of nature breakdown.
They advocate for the World Health Organization to declare the inseparable climate and nature crisis as a global health emergency, urging action before or at the World Health Assembly in May 2024.
Addressing this emergency necessitates harmonizing COP processes, with the conventions pushing for better alignment of national climate and biodiversity plans.
Biodiversity A Natural Defense Against Climate Change
Human activities release greenhouse gases, with roughly half remaining in the atmosphere and the other half absorbed by land and ocean ecosystems, serving as natural carbon sinks to combat climate change.
Forests, covering over 30% of the Earth's land, offer significant mitigation potential. Peatlands, despite covering just 3% of the world's land, store twice as much carbon as all forests combined, emphasizing the importance of preserving and restoring them.
Ocean habitats like seagrasses and mangroves can capture and store carbon dioxide at rates up to four times higher than terrestrial forests, making them valuable in addressing climate change.
Efforts to conserve and restore natural spaces on land and in water are essential for reducing carbon emissions and adapting to a changing climate. Enhancing nature's ability to absorb emissions could achieve around one-third of necessary greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the next decade.
Health professionals are urged to champion biodiversity restoration and climate action for public health, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the climate and biodiversity crises.
There is a collective call for the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency addressing the combined climate change and biodiversity loss crisis, supported by over 200 health journals, ahead of the World Health Assembly in May 2024.
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