This week is Global Climate Change Week, encouraging academic communities to engage each other on climate change solutions. The topic of global climate change seems too big to grasp and has become highly politicized.
We aren’t going to talk about that today. Our mission is health. How does the fact that the Earth continues to warm, causing changes and natural disasters in other places, affect us here?
This is the question the Unicameral asked when considering new legislation. So the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s School of Natural Resources did a comprehensive study, focused solely on implications for Nebraska. Following the publication of this report, roundtable discussions were held to discuss eight different sectors:
- Ecosystems and wildlife;
- Human health;
- Forests and fire;
- Agriculture, food and water;
- Energy availability, use and management;
- Faith communities;
- College campuses; and
- Urban and rural communities.
This report shows that the earth’s climate is changing, and Nebraska is dealing with the reality. Farmers are noting hotter temperatures and less water to irrigate crops. More wildfires are being reported, and they affect our air quality. Zika virus has become a concern, even in geographical areas that don’t have the Aedes aegypti species.
If you are interested in the Nebraska-specific findings, you can watch the presentation here.
For a presentation by Ali S. Khan, M.D., MPH, dean of UNMC’s College of Public Health, on the specific ties to health, click here.
Presentations on all eight areas can be seen here.
While these events are worrisome as we assess the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, there is hope. More countries, including the United States, continue to sign the Paris Climate Agreement with the United Nations, and 73 of the 195 have ratified the agreement, accounting for 56.87 percent of the world greenhouse gas emissions. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted, “What once seemed unthinkable is now unstoppable,” referencing the historic changes taking place with countries across the globe.
This is why we do what we do. The med center’s actions can have, and indeed already have had, a positive effect on health. Did you know that the energy we saved in the past five years would have produced the emissions of 109 million pounds (548 railcars) of coal? The result is cleaner air, which is better for all of us. As we continue to make strides, others will follow our example, and the cumulative effect could change the world.