A report released last week by the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change finds that, absent “unprecedented” changes to the global economy, severe impacts of the warming planet will take place as soon as 2040. Several Columbia Mailman School faculty whose work addresses the health impacts of climate change shared their thoughts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and how the public health community should respond to its findings.
When every country in the world signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, the global scientific and policy communities were largely focused on avoiding a 2ºC (3.6ºF) global temperature rise from pre-industrial levels. At that time, the small island nations at greatest risk of disappearing under rising sea levels asked the IPCC to project what might take place at a more modest temperature rise of 1.5ºC (2.7ºF). Written by 91 scientists from 40 countries and drawing on more than 6,000 studies, the current report finds impacts at this lower threshold will be much more severe than previously understood, with numerous risks for the environment and for human health, including spikes in heat- and ozone-related illness and vector-borne diseases, as well as food and water shortages. These outcomes will take place by 2040 unless carbon emissions are cut to nearly half their current levels within 12 years.
Read the report from the Mailman School of Public Health - “Experts Respond to UN Climate Report."
