At its meeting on October 23 at 7:00 pm at the Flesherton Library, the Grey Highlands Climate Action Group will host Crystal Ferguson of the South East Grey Community Health Centre. She will speak about Health Centre initiatives that might align with the Action Group’s goals. All are welcome to attend.

This local linkage between climate action and health system action reflects the enormous global effects of climate change on health. A report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that climate change would cause increased heat-related mortality and morbidity, decreased cold-related mortality in temperate countries, greater frequency of infectious disease epidemics following floods and storms, and substantial health effects following population displacement from sea level rise and increased storm activity.

According to a World Health Organization Fact Sheet:

• 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 will likely cause about 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea 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 $US 2-4 billion per year by 2030.

• Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without help 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.

Climate change and related natural disasters can also take a toll on mental health, according to a March 2017 American Psychological Association report Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance , mental health effects include depression and anxiety.

Children may be one of the hardest-hit groups. According to a recent U.S. poll, more than seven in 10 U.S. teenagers and young adults say climate change will cause harm to their generation.

Originally published in The Village Green, a newsletter from John Butler of Grey Highlands