Linking Climate Change and Human Health

Each day in the Canadian delegation meetings a portion of the session is reserved for questions or comments.  Ken Maybee, President and CEO of the New Brunswick Lung Association and member of the New Brunswick Climate Change Public Education and Outreach Hub, often takes this opportunity to approach a microphone and urge negotiators not to forget the human health dimension to climate change. 

Canada:  Daily Highlights interviewed him about the links between climate change and health. 

You are here representing the health community.  What is the connection between climate change and health?

Ken Maybee:  The human health impacts are at the top of all the other impacts, and are the most important.  Higher temperatures lead to more deaths from heat stress.  Air pollution will increase as more people turn on air conditioners and air pollution already kills thousands of people in Canada alone.  More violent storms have huge health impacts in terms of injury and death, health insurance, displacement and long-term stress effects.  Changes in our food and water supplies will threaten our health … and the list goes on. 

What is the connection between climate change and air quality?

Ken Maybee:  Burning fossil fuels releases both carbon dioxide and air pollutants.  So climate change and air pollution have a common cause and common solutions.  As temperatures warm up, more people will use air conditioners, which creates more demand for our power plants.  And warmer climatic conditions will favour the build up of pollutants at ground level.  If we replace coal with wind and solar technology then we improve both situations.  I’d add a little caution here though in that some climate change solutions, such as burning biomass as a renewable resource, can cause more air pollution.  So we need to consider both air quality as well as climate change in our strategies. 

What actions would you suggest that the ordinary citizen do to help reduce greenhouse gases and improve air quality?

Ken Maybee:  I believe in the power of one.  Each person can be more energy efficient – use the clothes line instead of a dryer, increase the insulation in your home, reduce the number of trips you make in your car.  All of this saves you money as well as saves the environment.  Each of us should try to encourage others to do the same – your neighbours, your town council. 

What do you hope that this UN Conference on Climate Change will achieve?

Ken Maybee:  I hope that we can get agreement to take stronger actions to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases and start planning for this in 2008 for implementation in 2012.  I would like to see more countries sign onto an agreement, especially an agreement that uses regulated emissions caps and not just best practices.  We need to put the health of the planet ahead of our traditional interest in economic gain.  In the long run it will save us money to take firm action now.

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