It's Official - Global Warming is Bad for Your Health

Health professionals around the world have issued a variety of warnings about the impact of global warming on human health.

In Canada, the Ontario College of Family Physicians has issued a report highlighting the dangers to public health of continued climate change. These include an increase in the incidence of heat stroke and respiratory illness, especially among children and older people. Citing a two-week heat wave in France in 2003 which resulted in 15,000 premature deaths, the College is urging medical services to prepare for similar events in Canada and elsewhere in the coming years. The report also predicts an increase in the number of cases of malaria and dengue fever, caught by Canadians returning from vacations in a warmer Caribbean. Climate change will, says the report, also lead to an increase in Lyme disease (pictured) and west Nile virus – conditions which the vast majority of Canadian physicians have never seen let alone treated.

College President, Dr. Renee Arnold, says the negative health effects of climate change will be irreversible "if we don't get our act together now and stop damaging our environment."

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has issued a warning of 150,000 deaths a year as a direct result of climate change, with more than half coming from the Asia-Pacific region.

This number of fatalities will be caused by increases in malaria, malnutrition and diarrhoea as well as by flooding triggered by climate change. Citing outbreaks of malaria in regions once considered too cold for the disease to survive – such as the highlands of Papua new Guinea – WHO spokesman Shigeru Omi describes the health effects of climate change as lasting for the long term: "it is inevitable climate change will get worse for some time," Omi said.

Related health developments cited by the WHO include:

• Increased water-borne illness caused by sea water seepage into ground water supplies in Pacific Island nations such as Tuvulu and the Marshall Islands
• Deaths caused by increased flooding and droughts
• The spread of disease caused by the migration of people rendered homeless through environmental degradation

In a separate report, the WHO has also highlighted the link between climate change and mental health with evidence that extreme weather conditions can lead to psychiatric illness.

"Psychosocial illnesses are a part of the various health issues associated with climate change," according to Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Deputy Regional Director of the WHO.

Studies of severe flooding in England and a cyclone-affected area of Orissa in India have demonstrated an increase in post-traumatic stress disorder among affected populations, up to one year after the initial climate event.

The relationship between drought and mental health has been long established: "The phenomenon of farmers’ suicides in India is a typical example of consequences of climatic vagaries in poor, predominantly agrarian economies," according to the report.

Following the Asian tsunami, the WHO estimated that 20-40 per cent of affected people suffered from short-term mild psychological distress and that another 30-50 per cent experienced moderate-to-severe psychological stress. Similar results emerged from those affected by Hurricane Katrina in the United States.

The report concludes that people living in poverty, those in geographically vulnerable areas and those highly dependent on farming for their livelihood are among the groups more likely to experience mental health problems sparked by extreme weather patterns.

Australian doctors, meanwhile, have warned of increased rates of climate-change related illness in Australia and the Pacific, citing heat stroke, mosquito-borne illness and gastroenteritis as representing particular problems.

Dr Graeme Horton is quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as saying, "Climate change is clearly much, much more than an economic inconvenience, it is a threat to our life support systems."

The final warning comes from the British Medical Association which is calling on health professionals to take the lead in responding to the public health aspects of climate change.

Predictions include the possibility of malaria occurring in the UK, increased water-borne illnesses caused by flooding and a possible increase in skin cancers and sunstroke caused by heat waves becoming “common” by the middle of the C21. Head of Science and Ethics for the BMA, Dr Vivienne Nathanson, also foresees increased mental health issues sparked by climate change.

The BMA report predicts an economic imbalance in the health effects of climate change in the UK with the most deprived 10% of the population “eight times more likely to be living in the coastal floodplain than the least deprived 10 per cent” and thus more at risk.

POST SCRIPT

Exactly one year after this post was published, evidence was submitted today by the US Environmental Protection Agency confirming that greenhouse gases represent a significant and direct threat to human health. Findings include:

• concentrations of six greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluorideare - are at unprecedented levels as a result of human emissions
  
• these high levels are "very likely" the cause of the increase in average temperatures and other changes in our climate
• Climate change is resulting in increased drought and flooding; more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires; greater sea level rise; harm to water resources, agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems
• the health of the poor, the very young, the disabled and the elderly are disproportionately effected by climate change and increased concentrations of ground-level ozone
  

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Before Investing in Dubai, Read This

Dubai, famed for its real estate and luxury hotels, has sought to promote itself as the world's leading real estate investment location.

Properties in Dubai are now being bought by investment companies and individuals and benefit from low entry prices, high yields, generous mortgage offers and year round rental opportunities.

Dig a little deeper, however, and you will find in the heart of the UAE, an upsurge in labour strikes and riots in the construction industry as the thousands of migrant workers who are building this investors' paradise in the desert protest against low pay and harsh conditions.

This week has seen the latest in a series of strikes, with hundreds of labourers protesting in Sharjah. Indian, Afghan and Bangladeshi workers blocked a main road and began attacking police. After riot police were brought in from neighbouring cities, over 600 of the protesters were arrested.

The strikes - which are illegal in the UAE - are occurring against the backdrop of an unprecedented economic boom in the Gulf states since the Gulf War, due in large part to rising oil prices.

Jobs in Dubai are highly sought by workers from the Indian subcontinent, who are paid in the local currency, the dirham, which is pegged to the US dollar. As the dollar has depreciated in value, the real value of workers' salaries - which are regularly sent home to families in South Asia - has plummeted.

Two weeks ago, Sharjah police arrested 1,000 workers protesting low wages and their forced residence on their construction site in sub-standard housing.

The recent disturbances have been by workers from Dubai based Tiger Contracting, founded by a member of the ruling family, and a leading player in the real estate investment boom in Dubai. The basic pay rate for Tiger construction workers is approximately 800 dirhams per month ($230) - equivalent to about $7.50 a day. Tiger Contracting recently announced the opening of its new multi-million dollar Marine Residences - the tallest building in the Dubai Marina development (pictured). Three-bedroom apartments in the complex start at £765,000. The tower is dwarfed, however, by the Burj Dubai, which when finished will be the world's tallest building.

Other strikes and recent labour disturbances in the area have included:

• Around 200 workers of Bhatia Contracting held a sit-down protest in front of the Dubai Courts to demand a wage rise and to protest alleged unfair employment practices. The workers claim the company was deducting money from their wages as "water provision fee" and would not allow them holidays.
  
• Police were called this week to control 400 workers from an Ajman engineering company in a dispute over wages. Eye-witnesses report rioters attacking company buildings and vehicles.
  
• Around 1,500 striking labourers were involved in a riot which rocked Sharjah last month, during which they set fire to management offices, real estate and vehicles.
  

The enclosed video from Al-Jazeera highlights the experiences of low paid workers from the Indian subcontinent who are often charged up to two years' wages by local recruiters to find jobs in Dubai and other countries along the Gulf shores, where living conditions are poor and work-related accidents common.

For some, the pressure of the work and conditions proves too much. The Indian embassy in Dubai reported that in 2006, 109 Indian labourers committed suicide in the UAE. Figures for suicides among other nationals are not currently available.

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Climate Change Could Dispalce 125 Million People in South Asia

Dr Sudhir Chella Rajan, Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras has warned of the possibility of mass migration from coastal regions of South Asia as sea levels rise due to global warming and as fresh water supplies are disrupted.

In a paper entitled Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and Solutions Dr Rajan warns that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow as projected, leading to a global temperature rise of 4-5°C, the South Asian region could face a wave of displaced migrants.

Bangladeshi environmentalist Mohon Kumar Mondol, responded to the prospect of millions of Bangladeshi refugees:

“India would certainly be the first country to experience an inflow of refugees. This is a reality in my lifetime. I don’t want to see the day I lose my home to the sea and saline deserts where people have to live without clean water. It can be prevented and we are the last generation that can stop it; governments across the world have no choice but to stop this nightmare from becoming reality.”

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Rice - a Staple of Social Upheaval?

Rice may be emerging as the trigger for widespread social unrest across Asia.

As demand surges, prices have doubled in the last five years and reserve stocks have fallen to their lowest levels for thirty years.

In response to this trend, a number of Asian countries have imposed export bans on their own supplies of rice, a move likely to further raise prices in the rice-importing countries.

Recent developments include:

• protests in Indonesia's capital Jakata over the rising cost of rice

• an export ban on Cambodia's rice supply
  

• a 22% reduction in rice exports from Vietnam

• an increased export tax on rice from India - from $500 to $650 per tonne

Meanwhile, the government of the Philippines (the world's largest rice importer) has also asked Vietnam recently to guarantee its own supply of rice among concerns about the former's ability to feed its population, which now stands at nearly 90 million.

The Philippine government has been widely criticized for not ensuring sufficient home-grown supplies of rice over the years as consumers now face major price rises on this staple product.

Meanwhile, China, the world's biggest rice producer, has announced plans to increase the subsidy paid to rice (and wheat) framers in an attempt to boost production and stabilize prices. China's rice crop is almost entirely used in its domestic market.






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Somalia - Some Good News

Polio has been eradicated from Somalia, despite the absence of a functioning central government in the war-torn country.

The announcement comes from the World Health Organization and is the result of a mass movement of volunteers and health workers who have implemented a pioneering immunization programme over recent years.

The 10,000-strong team of Somali volunteers successfully visited every household in every settlement across the entire country several times to administer the polio vaccine to more than 1.8 million children under the age of five. This was achieved without any national database and against the backdrop of mass migration and widespread conflict between rival militias, government forces and Ethiopian troops.

Mass community participation and repeat vaccinations within short time periods have been factors in the programme's success, which has resulted in health workers not reporting a single case of the disease since March 2007.

"This truly historic achievement shows that polio can be eradicated everywhere, even in the most challenging and difficult settings," said Dr Hussein A Gezairy, Regional Director for the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Polio remains in only four countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria. Stopping the disease in these nations would result in the complete eradication of the polio from the planet.

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