7gen Bloc

The World Health Organization recently dedicated its annual World Health Day to the intersection of disease and global warming.

And that's a great thing!

Sometimes, we have this narrow notion that global warming is exclusively an environmental issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately, not everyone cares about polar bears and melting ice caps. But we all care about diseases than can affect the health of our children, including the spread of tropical diseases like malaria into previously untouched regions, and worsening water-borne diseases.

That's a tiny sample of what global warming will do to human health and well-being. No amount of organic food, exercise, or vitamins can begin to tackle this monster.

Time Magazine recently reported, "The message is that severe climate change could fundamentally weaken global public health, that doctors need to be ready to deal with the consequences -- and that there is a moral case to be made for reducing carbon emissions to save future lives." Dr. David Heymann, Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment at WHO, told the magazine, "If you look at climate change over the long term, it will profoundly affect the pillars of public health: water, sanitation, air quality, and sufficient food."

The article goes on to report that the "double whammy" of longer droughts and increasingly severe rainstorms will increase the spread of such lethal diseases as malaria and cholera to cooler climes, where people lack immunity. WHO and other organizations are pushing to make global warming a public-health issue and to prepare for the changes that a warmer planet will inevitably bring. By taking steps to cut our carbon footprint, we're just not saving polar bears -- we're helping to reduce the human suffering that will accompany climate change.

Click here to read the full Time article.