Climate change is the biggest health threat facing humanity. Recently, Lahore has been ranked number one for Air Pollution and smog in the World. Indeed, it is more dangerous than Covid-19. It has long lasting damaging effects on respiratory system, heart, plants, Parkinson and growth of children especially. It is becoming an unlivable city within the next five years. People used to wear mask due to air pollution before the advent of the coronavirus.
Eyes, nose and throat are completely under threat due to this air pollution and smog. It is an increasing trend and this year all previous records have been shattered in this regard. There are lots of reasons due to which these circumstances are being observed. Green belts have been holistically decreased. Necessary measures have been forgotten. The carbon sink is the real issue. Trees have decreased to astonishing limits. No positive difference has been left behind. Town planners are deprived of wisdom and why do they not understand that by widening roads, traffic problems can never be resolved? Even Canal Road in Lahore has been widened many times but no effect has been observed in case of traffic management, even though trees have been cut many times for it. Alas! still the issue of traffic on the Canal Road exists. Local government and city government only can manage such things, and if local government does not exist then these problems only worsen. If there is a local government system then it can manage such problems. There must be a restriction of private cars with odd and even numbers running for three days a week each. This was also done in Greece, Singapore and even in India.
Additionally, climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250, 000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress. The direct damage costs to health (i.e. excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation), is estimated to be between $2-4 billion a year by 2030. Areas with weak health infrastructure– mostly in developing countries– will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy-use choices can result in improved health, particularly through reduced air pollution, and health professionals worldwide are already responding to the health harms caused by this unfolding crisis.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that to avert catastrophic health impacts and prevent millions of climate change-related deaths, the world must limit temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Rationally, climate change should be the greatest unifying force among different nations as it has consequences for everyone. Nip the evil of climate deterioration in the bud. The burden of responsibility is not equally divided, however. Developed nations should bear the responsibility, both financially and morally.
The climate crisis threatens to undo the last 50 years of progress in development, global health, and poverty reduction, and to further widen existing health inequalities between and within populations. It severely jeopardizes the realization of universal health coverage (UHC) in various ways– including by compounding the existing burden of disease and by exacerbating existing barriers to accessing health services, often at the times when they are most needed. Over 930 million people – around 12 percent of the world’s population- spend at least 10 percent of their household budget to pay for health care. With the poorest people largely uninsured, health shocks and stresses already currently push around 100 million people into poverty every year, with the impacts of climate change worsening this trend. Climate change is already impacting health in a myriad of ways.
The Healthy Climate Prescription, a letter from the health community worldwide to COP26 national climate negotiators, called for effective action to limit warming to 1.5°C, increased financing from high-income countries to support low-income countries’ transitions, and for strengthened investment in adaptation and resilience.
A joint editorial in over 200 health journals has called on governments to take emergency action to tackle the “catastrophic harm to health” from climate change.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), specific pollutants are the driving factor for pneumonia and childhood death due to the presence of particulate matter (soot) in the children’s airways in Pakistan In addition, such air pollutants are also likely to contribute to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases, particularly stroke, ischemic heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Ambient (outdoor) pollution sources are mainly from increased fossil fuel consumption, traffic emissions, power plant generation, and industrial emissions. Moreover, cardiovascular diseases including ischemic heart disease, hypertension, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathies and mitral stenosis were the chief conditions for ER visits all year round in Pakistan.
In this vein, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) funding could be allocated to the wellbeing of people affected by high temperatures and humidity in most needed locations. Environmental factors and climate change are leading problems and the UN SDGs aim to complete 17 goals by the year of 2030 in order to provide peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Amongst these 17 goals, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and climate action would provide substantial benefit to public health. China and the USA are the two biggest polluters followed by India. China committed to phase down her coal production, not phase out. China (54 percent), India (12 percent) and the USA (6 percent) are the world’s largest coal consumers.
Lastly, Every human being on Earth must realise his responsibility towards climate change as it is like slow poison. Pollution of any sort is unacceptable at all. Commitment can be shown by slamming the usage of plastic polybags at once. The Conference of Parties (COP26) concluded in Glasgow, Scotland where world leaders met to decide on the collective struggle against climate change. It is the first conference which openly called out the coal and fossil industries for damaging the environment. It must not be a ‘just-talk, no-action’ conference.
Rationally, climate change should be the greatest unifying force among different nations as it has consequences for everyone. Nip the evil of climate deterioration in the bud. The burden of responsibility is not equally divided, however. Developed nations should bear the responsibility, both financially and morally.
