From The Medical Care Blog: A special consensus statement on climate change and public health
In 2021, more than 250 of the world’s leading medical and public health journals released a joint statement about climate change and public health. Published simultaneously, editorial boards of the journals declared climate change to be the “greatest threat” to global health. They called on global leaders to make 2021 the year that the “world finally changed course”.
Figure: C02 Emissions 1980-2022 Source: Global Carbon Budget 2022.
The editors and numerous authors of The Medical Care Blog (see signatories below) are adding our voices to the collective call for urgent action on climate change. As a community of health researchers and medical practitioners, we work every day to improve the human condition. Together, we agree to the below consensus statement on climate change and public health.
There is no greater threat to public health than climate change
Public health professionals have long-argued that climate change is a public health issue. The fossil fuels we burn, for example, contribute to climate change and worsen air pollution. That pollution already accounts for an estimated 1 in 5 annual deaths around the world. And the health and medical care costs of that pollution already exceed $8 billion per day (yes, per day) globally.
Climate change is also dramatically affecting food and water supplies, increasing the spread of disease, and amplifying extreme weather events. We must not forget the historic flooding in India and Bangladesh in 2023 that displaced millions. And we must not ignore the 31 consecutive days of 110+ degree weather in Arizona this year, which sent heat-related hospitalizations soaring.
Climate change is an emergency and the time for action is now
Global greenhouse gas emissions reached record-high levels in 2023. Over a decade, the falling fossil fuel emissions of the U.S., the European Union, Brazil, Japan and South Africa were not enough to counteract the dramatic rises in emissions from China, India, other countries and aviation (see Figure). Thus, national changes are essential, but not sufficient.
The Paris climate agreement set a goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The world, however, has already warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit). Without immediate dramatic action, we are almost certain to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius change within the next 6 years.
The public health community must help lead the way
The latest United Nations-sponsored meeting of nations to address climate change (known as COP28), dedicated (for the first time ever) an entire day to the health effects of climate change. That was historic. And it provides evidence of the critical role that public health will play going forward.
That day was also a long time coming. It builds on the work of leading public health organizations like the American Public Health Association (APHA). APHA has taken decisive, evidence-based policy positions on the health effects of climate change as far back as 1995. It recommended precautionary primary preventive measures “in view of the scale of potential health impacts and the time frame in which confirming information may emerge.”
Action on climate change must speed up dramatically
Together, we call on elected officials and others in positions of privilege and power, to redouble attention, resources, and policy to prevent and mitigate further climate change. We urge action in alignment with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report.
It is clear, for example, that the world must not just “transition away” from fossil fuels, as nearly 200 nations agreed last month in a historic statement. Rather, we must eliminate the use of fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
Efforts to avoid the worst effects of climate change will require difficult compromises and sacrifices. We accept this. Our individual health research and practice priorities will need to consider climate more fully. And, in doing so, we recognize our work may find greater cause by first—or simultaneously—addressing climate change.
We can do this.
A year of climate action at The Medical Care Blog
To embody this consensus, The Medical Care Blog declares 2024 our year of climate action. Our blog and podcast will amplify work that clarifies the connections among public health, health care, and climate change, and supports the public’s understanding of these issues.
Given the demonstrable impacts of climate change, as well as the policy environment, politics, and economics around climate change, the editors and contributing authors of The Medical Care Blog unequivocally support the above statements and actions. We sign as individuals deeply committed to protecting public health.
To join as a signatory, email editors@themedicalcareblog.com
Signatories to Climate Change and Public Health Consensus
| NAME | AFFILIATION |
|---|---|
| Ben King, PhD, MPH | University of Houston, Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine |
| Lisa M. Lines, PhD, MPH | RTI International; UMass Chan Medical School |
| Gregory Stevens, PhD, MHS | California State University Los Angeles |
| Arlene S. Ash, PhD | UMass Chan Medical School |
| Oliver Fein, MD | Cornell University Medical College |
| Julie Zito, PhD | University of Maryland School of Pharmacy |
| Ranit Mishori, MD, MHS, FAAFP | Georgetown University |
| Cynthia Miller | Unaffiliated |
| Evelyn Alvarez, PhD, MPH | California State University Los Angeles |
| Walter Zelman, PhD | California State University Los Angeles |
| José A. Pagán, PhD | School of Global Public Health, New York University |
| Alison T. Brill, MPH | Unaffiliated |
| Anthony N. Fleg, MD, MPH | College of Population Health, University of New Mexico |
| Daisy Amescua | California State University Los Angeles (Alumni) |
| Raj Fadadu, MD, MS | Santa Clara Valley Medical Center |
| Judith Garber, MPP | The Lown Institute |
| Michelle Sabia, MPH, CPH | HealthyWomen |
| Liam O'Neill, PhD | University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service |
| Sapphire Garcia-Lies | Kansas Birth Justice Society and Kansas Birth Justice Action |
| Libby Wetter, MD | Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania |
| Megha Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH | University of Washington School of Public Health |
| Kimmy Moon, MPH | Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California |
| Amanda Emerson, PhD | KU School of Nursing, University of Kansas Medical Center |
| Stephanie Freeman, PhD | Eccentric Earth and Kansas Birth Equity Network |
| Devin Quinn, MPH, MD (Candidate) | University of Kansas Medical Center |
| Gordon Schiff, MD | Chair of the Editorial Board of Medical Care, Harvard Medical School |
| Jeroan J. Allison, MD, MS | Co-Editor-in-Chief of Medical Care, University of Massachusetts Medical School |
| Melanie D. Sabado-Liwag, PhD, MPH | California State University, Los Angeles |
| Rebekah L. Rollston, MD, MPH | Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School |
| Jonathan Ward, MD | Boulder Community Health; Colorado4UniversalHealthCare (Volunteer) |
| Sheila Seno, MPH | California Department of Public Health |
| Catarina Kiefe, MD, PhD | Co-Editor-in-Chief of Medical Care, University of Massachusetts Medical School |
| Susana Flores | California State University Los Angeles (Alumni) |
| Lora E Fleming MD PhD MPH MSc | European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School |
| Kathryn Hampton, MSt | Refugee Protection Specialist |
| Hector P. Rodriguez, PhD | University of California, Berkeley |
| Robert Weech-Maldonado, MBA, PhD | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Franny Eanet, MS, MA | UMass Chan Medical School |
| Yalda Jabbarpour, MD | The Robert Graham Center For Policy Studies in Primary Care |
| David S. Buck, MD, MPH | Fertitta Family College of Medicine, University of Houston |