The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has made a public statement following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) recent report. In the report, the IPCC has urged that global warming should be limited to 1.5°C rather than 2°C but that the necessary measures would require far-reaching changes across society.
The AMA’s states that the report reiterates the position that climate change affects human health as it results in more environments and situations, such as heatwaves, in which infectious diseases can be transmitted. The IPCC report has concluded that the effects on health would be far more severe if global warming is limited to 2°C.
The IPCC report highlighted that some of the potential consequences of global warming at 2°C include higher rates of heat related deaths and higher risks of air-borne viruses transmitted through mosquitoes. The AMA considers this a high priority and has urged the government to act accordingly.
Read the AMA’s media release here and position statement here.
Read the IPCC’s report here.