Queensland on alert as heatwave blasts state from north to south

Health experts have warned Queenslanders to take care as severe and extreme heatwave conditions blanket much of the state.

A heatwave has hit Queensland, extending from Ipswich in
 the south to Mt Isa in the north and Birdsville in the west.

Parts of southern Queensland sweltered in the unseasonal heat, which extended north to Mount Isa and west to Birdsville, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Monday.

In the channel country, the mercury reached 43.4C at Thargomindah about 1.30pm, while Windorah hit 43.3C and Ballera peaked at 42.2C. Closer to the coast, St George reached 42.6C at 2.30pm, while Charleville hit a maximum temperature of 41.9C.

Queensland Ambulance’s director of clinical quality and patient safety, Tony Hucker, said people can become ill very quickly on hot days, particularly if they are working hard.

Read the story from The Guardian - “Queensland on alert as heatwave blasts state from north to south.”

Obama’s Climate Leaders Launch New Harvard Center on Health and Climate

Some of the Obama Administration's most outspoken advocates on climate change urged health experts to reach beyond the ivory tower as they reunited for the launch of a new center, focused on the health impacts of climate change, at Harvard University on Wednesday.

Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, shown
here in an earlier photo, will head Harvard's new
 Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment. 

Gina McCarthy, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency who will lead the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE), joined John Kerry, the former Secretary of State who negotiated the Paris Agreement in 2015, and John Holdren, Obama's science advisor, to open its doors.

McCarthy, in an energetic speech that stood in sharp contrast to the gloom and doom that often accompanies talk of global warming, cast the threat of climate change as an opportunity to solve two problems at once.

Read the story by Phil McKenna from Inside Climate News - “Obama’s Climate Leaders Launch New Harvard Center on Health and Climate.”

Framework for a national strategy on climate, health and well-bring for Australia

In a world first initiative, a coalition of leading health experts and organisations, along with federal parliamentarians, has launched a Framework for a National Strategy on Climate, Health and Well-being for Australia. 

The Framework has been developed following a year-long national consultation to identify stakeholders’ priorities and concerns regarding the health impacts of climate change.

This Framework for a National Strategy on Climate, Health and Well-being for Australia provides a roadmap to support the Commonwealth Government in taking a leadership role in protecting the health and well-being of Australian communities from climate change, and in fulfilling its international obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Read the story posted by Fiona Armstrong on the Climate and Health Alliance website - “Framework for a national strategy on climate, health and well-bring for Australia.”

Health experts slam Turnbull government's air pollution proposals.”

Gina McColl writes
about air pollution.

Doctors and health experts have criticised a government review of vehicle emissions and air pollution for under-reporting the health risks, sidelining the Minister for Health, and potentially putting thousands of Australians' lives at risk.

Australian fuel quality and emissions standards are "appalling", the atmospheric and respiratory specialists say. Of the 35 countries in the OECD, our petrol quality is ranked last, below Mexico, Turkey and Estonia.

Draft proposals to address these quality concerns were quietly released days before Christmas by the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, and the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, Paul Fletcher.

The review acknowledges 1483 premature deaths in 2012 were due to outdoor air pollution (a sharp increase from 882 in 2005), about half of which could be attributed to road transport pollution. It indicates the cost to the Australian economy from these premature deaths at $7.8 billion

Read Gina McColl’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Health experts slam Turnbull government's air pollution proposals.”

Anger over the arrival of a 'silent killer'

Some have described the heat as our “silent killer”.

Although we haven’t yet truly experienced what climate change will deal out, doctors and public health experts are calling on the Victorian Government to urgently review its management of heatwaves.

Today’s Melbourne Age in a story headed: “Anger over spike in deaths during record Victorian heatwave” that on just one day during the recent heatwave, Melbourne had recorded 139 deaths above its average.

Doctors are concerned that Victoria had not learnt enough from the catastrophic 2009 heatwave, when 374 lives were lost.

It was after that loss that the Victorian Greens had called for a formal inquiry into the state’s “clear lack of preparation” for periods of extreme heat.