Nobel laureate predicts climate change to threaten human health

Nobel laureate Peter Doherty
says climate change
threatens human health.

Leading immunologist Professor Peter Doherty has predicted major improvements in human health by 2066 – but with a sting in the tail from climate change.

Looking ahead 50 years in this week's Griffith Review, the co-winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for physiology writes that cancers will be cured and genetic, personalised medicine will be the norm.

“One of the things that will improve human health is knowing an individual’s susceptibility pattern and then tailoring healthcare delivery to that individual rather than on a gross population level,” says Prof Doherty.

He believes the human immune system will survive upcoming battles with viruses.

Read the SBS story - “Nobel laureate predicts climate change to threaten human health.”

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.”