Is climate change a threat to our health?

Is climate change a threat to our health?

Monday 17 Mar 2014 3news.co.nz

The long-term threats climate change poses to the environment are well-known, but what about its effect on our health?

Doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about what impacts rising temperatures and erratic weather will have on New Zealanders' physical wellbeing.

The New Zealand Climate and Health Council (NZCHC), made up of doctors and other health professionals concerned about climate change, says more research needs to be done on the topic.

"Already climate change is causing over 400,000 deaths worldwide [every year] from things like malnutrition, water shortages, difficulty producing food and severe weather events," Dr Alexandra Macmillan said on Firstline this morning.

"This is going to continue to get worse – we're expecting over 650,000 deaths by 2030."

Most deaths linked to climate change occur in developing countries, particularly those with infrastructure unable to deal with severe storms and food shortages – so do New Zealanders have anything to fear?

"We haven't really counted properly the impact on New Zealand health, and that's something that we should be doing more actively," says Dr Macmillan.

"Health starts in our neighbourhoods and our houses, and particularly in well-functioning ecosystems, including things like the climate, the freshwater system, air quality, and so climate change is really fully within health's ballpark. Doctors have been social leaders in the past, and we should so again with issues like this."

Dr Macmillan says rising temperatures could have short-term health benefits, but the long-term risks are "much more significant".