Climate Change Mitigation Strategies Benefit Human Health

Strategic Insights -

A new series of studies published in The Lancet highlights the interconnected relationship between climate change and human health. The research, supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), reveals that strategies to reduce greenhouse gases can also have numerous health benefits. Key takeaways from the studies include the potential for cost savings from improving health to offset the costs of addressing climate change.

Key Takeaways:

  • Improving health outcomes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions can lead to significant cost savings in high- and low-income countries.
  • Low-emission stove technology, such as replacing biomass stoves in India, can improve respiratory health and is one of the most cost-effective climate-health linkages.
  • Cutting emissions by reducing motor vehicle use and increasing walking and cycling can bring substantial health gains, including reducing heart disease and stroke by 10-20 percent.
  • Changing methods of electricity generation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, such as using wind turbines, can reduce particulate air pollution and yield the greatest potential for health-related cost savings in China and India.
  • Reducing saturated fats from animal sources can reduce heart disease by about 15 percent while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Carefully choosing how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can have the added benefit of reducing global health inequities.
  • The health of the planet and the health of human populations are inextricably linked, and efforts to address climate change can have significant health benefits.
  • Low-emission technologies can be cost-effective and beneficial for both the environment and human health.

Statistics:

  • 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the food and agriculture sector.
  • A 30 percent reduction in saturated fats from animal sources can reduce heart disease by about 15 percent.
  • Reducing motor vehicle use and increasing walking and cycling can reduce heart disease and stroke by 10-20 percent, dementia by eight percent, and depression by five percent.
  • Wind turbines can reduce particulate air pollution.
  • The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) supports research to understand the effects of the environment on human health.

Sources:

  • The Lancet Health and Climate Change series (The Lancet)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
  • Academy of Medical Sciences
  • British Department of Health
  • Economic and Social Research Council
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • National Institute for Health Research
  • Royal College of Physicians
  • Wellcome Trust
  • National Press Club (http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=64196)