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Dr Marianne Cannon  |
| Dr Marianne Cannon is an emergency physician based in Brisbane. She argues that more needs to be done to combat the health effects of climate change. |
But it is the latter, the endless days of hot sunshine that are harming us, both young and old, in increasing numbers.
During heatwaves many older people become dehydrated and end up in the hospital. Some of them die.
It’s a fate all too familiar to emergency physicians in Queensland, and across Australia and something I have witnessed all too often.
In the US, emergency physicians call the syndrome “BRASH”, describing low blood pressure, kidney failure, altered sodium, and high potassium in the blood.
Any one of these things can be lethal. The deadly combination could show up as an inability for an older person to get out of bed, dizziness, possible collapse or an altered mental state.
Similarly, young people exercising can end up with heatstroke. We have seen examples of this over the last year in Queensland and even the coroner has warned there will be deaths for outdoor workers if climate change impacts and solutions continue to be ignored.
Last year was the hottest summer on record and the hospital where I work alongside others across south-east Queensland overflowed with patients impacted by the heat.
The knock-on effect is that many operate beyond capacity with patients being treated in corridors, and queues of ambulances building up outside A&E units.
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| Longreach, in the Queensland outback. Credit: Tourism & Events Queensland |
As more frequent and severe heatwaves increase the pressure on accident and emergency units, many emergency physicians are seriously worried about how hospitals are going to cope.
But there are solutions open to us, and they are achievable. Firstly, the health sector must focus more on education and prevention. Infrastructure design and landscaping must incorporate cooling measures such as tree planting and reflective surfaces.
But there is no getting away from the fact that reducing our carbon emissions is key.
Besides the industrial impact of local coal mining on our communities’ health through accidents, black lung and air pollution, the health risks from rising summer temperatures mean we need to end the burning of fossil fuels as a matter of urgency.
The co-benefits of alternative energy sources, and of changing to a healthier lifestyle are huge.
This doesn’t mean sacrificing the livelihoods of coal workers. They are owed a better deal, and we need to have a transition plan that involves them in decision making.
For the people in far north Queensland who need jobs, it is significant that wind and solar now employ more people (per unit of energy generated) than the coal industry. Coal is now a highly automated industry, and once extracted, coal has limited job creation.
The alternative is that we sleepwalk into a bleak future and our children will turn and ask us why we didn't do more to prevent it.
Links
- The Health Impacts Of Climate Change And Why Calls For Action Are Growing Louder
- Letter: Doctors Against Climate Catastrophe
- Climate Crisis Seriously Damaging Human Health, Report Finds
- Strengthen Health Systems To Cope With Climate Change Challenges
- Doctors Warn Australian Health System Not Prepared For Climate Change
- Australian Doctors Declare A Climate Emergency
- Why Fear And Anger Are Rational Responses To Climate Change
- Climate Change Will Expose Half Of World’s Population To Disease-Spreading Mosquitoes By 2050
- Climate Change And The Risk To Civilisation: The Doctors' Prescription
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