A panel of experts met at the Carter Center in Atlanta where they discussed climate change. The meeting was supposed to happen last January, but was postponed due to the presidential inauguration.
And thought President Donald Trump has expressed his doubts as to the validity of the climate crisis, the organizers say this was not the cause of the postponement. In the said meeting, experts voiced their concern about the health risks of climate change.
CNN reports that an additional 250,000 deaths per year due to malnutrition, infectious diseases and heat stress will be seen from 2030-2050. This report was given by the World Health Organization, which cited that clean air, safe drinking water and secure shelter are the ones affected by climate change. WHO says that diseases such as malaria and diarrhea will cause deaths especially in developing countries that cannot cope with the changes.
Former US Vice President and environmental advocate Al Gore was a keynote speaker in the event and he said that seeing the news on television brings to mind a nature hike through the Book of Revelation.
97% of scientists already agree that human pollution is responsible for climate change. Now, they are also questioning the data given by WHO. They fear that the organization has actually underestimated the deaths that can will be added in the next years due to climate change.
Dr. Jonthan Patz from the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin says that the statistics given are from very specific health outcomes, but when a specific number cannot be given, and in reality the numbers could add up.
The experts who went to the meeting hope that the efforts to reverse the effects of climate change can also be beneficial to public health. While the number of deaths is uncertain, most of them say that it can lower if everyone does a good job in dealing with climate change.
