Climate change puts Australian lives at risk
19 Nov 2008
WWF-Australia today warned that a rise in average temperature of more than 2 degrees Celsius could have dramatic effects for the health of Australia.
"Australia needs to do all it can to secure an international agreement to slow, stop and then reverse global greenhouse gas emissions. The very first step should be to offer deep cuts in Australian pollution if other countries take comparable action,"said Paul Toni, WWF-Australia’s Sustainable Development Program Leader.
As Australia’s climate warms, tropical infectious diseases such as dengue fever could move further south from Northern Queensland towards Sydney, exposing millions of Australians to serious health risks.
Rising temperatures will also mean that by 2100 Australia's annual heat-related death rate for over 65s may jump from 50 per 100,000 to around 150-200 per 100,000 if immediate action is not taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Research consistently shows that climate change has a variety of negative impacts, including on our health," said Mr Toni.
"Tens of thousands of people could be exposed to mosquito-borne disease in areas which have never had to deal with the threat before, putting strains on our already stressed health system. Heat-related deaths in older Australians could triple by the end of the century. There are also a host of other health risks such as water-borne disease, food poisoning and mental health pressures in rural communities from prolonged drought and increased natural disasters."
Professor Tony McMichael, a world leader in the area of health and climate change, has affirmed the warning by WWF-Australia that climate change will have serious effects for Australia.
Professor McMichael coordinated the assessment of health risks for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is currently a National Health & Medical Research Council ‘Australia Fellow’ at the Australian National University, Canberra.
"There is little point in trying to 'sustain' an economy if there is no longer a healthy population to run it and benefit from it. It has not been possible to maintain economic development in much of sub-Saharan Africa in the face of the HIV/AIDS catastrophe. This could be a foretaste of how climate change will afflict many future societies, if not all," said Professor McMichael.
These warnings come as the Australian government prepares to release its White Paper on a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) which will set emissions reduction targets before a vital UN climate change meeting in Poznan, Poland next month.
WWF-Australia is calling on the government to reduce Australia’s emissions significantly – by at least a quarter by 2020 – as part of an international agreement to avoid a rise in temperatures of more than 2 degrees.
For more information:
Jonathon Larkin, WWF-Australia
Communications Office, 0410 221 410, jlarkin@wwf.org.au
