Last week Sydneysiders woke to the familiar and menacing smell of bushfire smoke in the air. This time the smoke had blown north from Victoria where an extreme heatwave has ignited destructive wildfires. Coming so soon after the devastating floods in both the north and south of our country, you'd be forgiven for thinking the Apocalypse is here now. This is an angry summer of extremes and burning fossil fuels has led us here.
As we anxiously monitor our socials during these climate-driven disasters, hoping and praying things don't get any worse, it is time to acknowledge lives are being put at risk by our lazy attitude to action on climate change.
Doctors around the globe have been warning for two decades that climate change is bad for our health. The World Health Organisation predicts that from 2030 onwards climate change will cause an additional 250,000 deaths each year. And now, the Victorian heatwave has focused our attention on the impacts that global heating is already having on our wellbeing here in Australia.
Heatwaves like the one scorching Victoria can kill. The unrelenting and merciless heat of 40 degree plus days will cause the life-threatening emergency that is heat stroke. Heat stroke occurs when your body temperature rises to such a level that your vital physiological systems begin to break down. Your brain is particularly vulnerable, and seizures or loss of consciousness can follow without urgent emergency medical care. It is days of uncompromising heat like those currently gripping Victoria that will put the elderly and the very young, in particular, at risk of this potentially fatal condition.
Sydneysiders have already experienced the health consequences of these extreme natural disasters that will occur more frequently, and with more intensity, as our climate continues to change. The terrible bushfires of the 2019-2020 black summer blanketed Sydney with smoke and pollution like this leads to an increase in pulmonary and cardiovascular illness. It triggers asthma attacks, leaves vulnerable people experiencing difficulty breathing, causes heart attacks and puts older people at risk of premature death. These smoke pollution events will be more frequent as the conditions conducive to extreme wildfire events become more common.
The mental health implications of these climate change related weather events must not be downplayed. The mental trauma of witnessing wildfire or flood with the associated loss of life and livelihood can be visceral, long lasting and debilitating. Anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress can follow.
Beyond the immediate harms of climate disasters, in a warming world Australians face the inevitable spread of infectious disease carrying mosquitoes. As temperatures rise, diseases like malaria and dengue fever have the potential to become established in our country and spread south to more populated areas.
There is real and rising concern amongst health professionals about all of these impacts on the health of humanity. We understand that the longer we delay real climate action, the more lives will be lost. It has become a public health emergency. The evidence is irrefutable, the diagnosis and treatment clear; as much of Australia swelters under oppressive heat and wildfires rage, our political leaders must recognise that climate change is an urgent threat to both our collective and personal health that requires genuine action, now.
Dr Stephen Lightfoot is a Consultant Anaesthetist and Vice-President of the Australian Conservation Foundation
