Professor deems climate change biggest threat to human health

(Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty on the biggest threats facing human health, climate change fatigue and hope for the next generation.) 

Professor Peter Doherty.

M

ake no mistake, climate change is the greatest long-term threat to human health.

Heat stress, extreme cold, human conflict and mosquito and water-borne infections are the biggest dangers of a warmer world.

Extreme heat kills and very recently we’ve seen intense heatwaves in India, Pakistan, Iran and Middle Eastern countries. Humans might adjust, provided there’s access to base-load power and air-conditioning, but if you live in a slum, or a remote village, there’s no escape. It’s always the poor who are most vulnerable.

Read the piece by Prof Doherty - “Tackling climate is a matter of life or death.”