PHI’s Linda Rudolph in The Nation’s Health: Impact of Climate Change Affecting the Health of Millions

“Rising global temperatures are on the verge of causing catastrophic harm to human health, according to a recent report.

The Global Tipping Points report, authored by a team of 160 scientists in about two dozen countries, concludes that global warming is on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, bringing the world closer to irreversible tipping points of melting ice shelfs, Amazon rainforest deforestation and bleached coral reefs. Unless there is an immediate intervention, the effects will lead to life-threatening floods, extreme heat and food insecurity, the scientists predict.

“This grim situation must be a wake-up call that unless we act decisively now, we will also lose the Amazon rainforest, the ice sheets and vital ocean currents,” study co-author Mike Barrett, PhD, a chief scientific advisor at World Wildlife Fund-UK, said in a news release. “In that scenario, we would be looking at a truly catastrophic outcome for all humanity.”

Human-caused climate change has made record-breaking extreme heat, flooding and other disasters the norm for billions of people worldwide. But reaching multiple tipping points means deadly consequences for human health will become relentless, the report said.

“Unknown changes in rainfall and temperature in large parts of the populated world, risks in crop loss and significant changes in temperature really increase pressures on migration,” said Rudolph.

Among the threats to human health that will grow is extreme flooding. People swept up in floods are at risk of drowning or serious injury, drinking water sources can become contaminated and damage to homes, roads and other infrastructure can wreak havoc on human health for years.”

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Originally published by The Nation's Health