GRAND Magazine - Winter 2022 - 19

cover story
And we're already perilously close to that point.
In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change reported that the planet has heated by 1.1°C
since 1900 due to human activity. Among the IPCC's
conclusions:
A hotter planet is baked in. Global surface temperature
will likely reach 1.5°C above 1900 levels by
2040, no matter what we do. Only deep cuts in emissions
will keep us from topping 2°C by 2100.
The " new normal " will get worse. Wildfires in
California, flooding in the Northeast, heatwaves in the
Northwest, hurricanes in the South, drought in the
West-this summer was devastating enough. But even
if we hold the line at 1.5°C, extreme weather events
will be more intense and more frequent.
No going back. Thanks to ocean warming, disappearing
glaciers, and melting ice sheets in Greenland
and Antarctica, average global sea levels will rise for at
least 2,000 years, even if we hold the line at 1.5
A hotter planet is a threat to our health. Extreme
weather aside, excess heat is linked to dehydration,
impaired kidney function, tropical infections, mental
health problems, pregnancy complications, and heart
and lung disease, noted the September editorial.
Extreme heat, extreme weather and depleted soils
can also threaten food supplies, raising the risk of
starvation in some regions.
We can help cut greenhouse gas emissions by
eating more plants and fewer animal foods, especially
beef and dairy.
Globally, livestock accounts for an estimated 15 percent
of greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.
We also need to cut emissions from the transportation,
power and industrial sectors.
19 GRAND Winter 2022
As a nation, we must invest in a safer, healthier
future for our children and grandchildren by cutting
net greenhouse gas emisiions to zero by 2050. The
price tag may be high, but the cost of doing anything
less is far higher. How can we leave our kids with a
planet headed for disaster?
" The greatest threat to global public health is the
continued failure of world leaders to keep the global
temperature rise below 1.5° and to restore nature. "
Said the editorial.
" We as editors of health journals call for governments
and other leaders to act, marking 2021 as the
year that the world finally changes course. " I couldn't
agree more.
There is one principal factor that increases the
likelihood of more frequent and more ferocious
wildfires: hot temperatures. The United States
Department of Agriculture has projected that " an
average annual 1 degree Celsius temperature
increase would increase the median burned area
per year by as much as 600 percent, " Source
(Center for Energy and Climate Solutions).
Peter G. Lurie, MD, MPH, President of Center
for Science in the Public Interest publishers
of Nutrition Action Healthletter.
This contributed opinion column is from the
December 2021 Nutrition Action Newsletter
by Dr. Peter G. Lurie, president of the Center
for Science in the Public Interest. To read
more on the CSPI website and to subscribe
to Nutrition Action Healthletter, click here.
Continued on next page

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GRAND Magazine - Winter 2022

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