This article comes from the magazine Sciences et Avenir – La Recherche n ° 897 dated November 2021.
Mathilde Pascal is an epidemiologist, in charge of the “Climate change and health” project at Public Health France.
Sciences et Avenir: What to remember from this call?
Mathilde Pascal: That the ultimate reason for all the expected efforts to fight against global warming is health, even survival. Public health is a theme that is struggling to emerge in the field of climate change. There, it is to be hoped that the number and the prestige of the signatories lead to awareness, it is an important text.
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Are the health consequences already measurable?
Yes, and more and more precisely. The most striking example in France is the mortality linked to the multiplication of heat waves. There have been 39,000 deaths since 1970. The heatwave of 2003 (nearly 20,000 deaths) can be placed a little apart for its exceptional duration and intensity. But since 2004, there have been almost 10,000 deaths, 80% of them in the past five years. Even though it was precisely after 2003 that much was done to raise awareness of the risks, protect the most vulnerable, etc.
And in the world ?
Between 1990 and 2018, around 37% of heat deaths are already attributable to global warming. This was shown by a large study published in June in Nature Climate Change. Which translates to around 100,000 deaths per year. In addition, there are indirect effects that are more difficult to quantify.
What are the other health effects of climate change?
Air pollution alone is responsible for around 7 million premature deaths per year worldwide according to the World Health Organization. But all types of extreme climatic events (floods, cyclones, fires, etc.) have impacts of different kinds: victims, injuries, interruption of access to healthcare or drinking water, etc. In September, a major study in The Lancet Planetary Health modeled the diffusion, at the discretion of the winds, of fire plumes and measured how they increase pollution and the impact on health. The phenomenon has been followed over fifteen years in 700 cities and researchers have concluded that 30,000 deaths per year.
How to react ?
We can only limit exposure to global warming by addressing its causes. And more specifically for public health, to develop our adaptation and mitigation capacities. In terms of the urban environment, this involves, for example, reducing heat islands by adapting infrastructure and supporting vulnerable people.
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