'Fossil Fuel Addiction' Leads to 1.2 Million Deaths, 98 Million Starving, Doctors Warn

Doctors warn that as long as "fossil fuel addiction" persists, the annual count of 1.2 million deaths and 98 million starving might get worse.

As the world's "fossil fuel addiction" deteriorates public health every year, researchers found that extreme weather from climate change caused hunger in almost 100 million people as well as increased deaths by 68% in vulnerable communities worldwide.

1.2 Million Deaths

According to a report, the use of fossil fuels results in air pollution. This in turn kills 1.2 million people worldwide each year, including 11,800 here in the United States.

Marina Romanello, the executive director of The Lancet Countdown, said that global health is "at the mercy of fossil fuels." Romanello is also a health and climate researcher from the University College of London. She said that In addition to amplifying the negative effects of climate change on human health, there is a clear addiction to fossil fuels that are currently compounding other concurrent global crises.

Romanello continued by stating that the effects of climate change on health are escalating quickly.

98 Million Starving

According to a new analysis in the report, climate change is to blame for days of extreme heat becoming more frequent and intense, which resulted in 98 million more cases of self-reported hunger worldwide in 2020 compared to the numbers reported from 1981 to 2010.

Romanello pointed out that in a simulated world without the effects of climate change, there would have been only 22.7% of the population experiencing what scientists refer to as "food insecurity," according to research that examined 103 countries.

Dr. Anthony Costello, the co-chair for Lancet Countdown, explained that although not all food insecurity is caused by climate change, it is a very major contributor to this complex web of causes and it will only get worse. Costello works as a pediatrician and is also the head of the Global Health Institute at the University College of London.

According to Romanello, computer-aided epidemiology models also indicate a rise in heat-related deaths, which went from 187,000 annually from 2000 to 2004 to an average of 312,000 annually over the last five years.

Global Crises: Heatwaves, Pollution

Dr. Renee Salas, a Boston emergency room physician, said that emergency room doctors are aware that they will have a difficult shift when a heat wave occurs, such as the record-breaking one that hit the Pacific Northwest in 2020 or the one that hit England this summer. Salas is a professor from the Harvard School of Public Health and a co-author of the study.

According to the report published in the medical journal The Lancet, pollution from burning oil, coal, and gas also poisons the atmosphere and contributes to about 1.2 million deaths annually due to airborne small particles. Salas cited an example, saying that children's asthma and heart issues have been linked to the burning of coal or gas in power plants.

According to study co-author Natasha DeJarnett, heat deaths and air pollution are both greater issues for the elderly, the very young, and especially the poor. Dejarnett is an environmental health professor from the University of Louisville.

Read also: Estimation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Fossil Fuels Becomes a Breakthrough 

Ineffective Treatment

Dr. Courtney Howard, an emergency room physician who was not involved in the study, stated that although the report shows an increase in deaths due to heat and air pollution, people continue to engage in these behaviors despite being aware of the risks, which is the definition of addiction. Howard is also a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary. Humanity hasn't been able to kick its addiction to fossil fuels yet.

Salas added that 'fossil fuel addiction' is not some type of rare cancer for which there is no known treatment. Achieving effective treatment, however, requires the willpower of everyone-including leaders, Phys Org reports.

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which serve as an urgent call to action for all nations, developed and developing, in a global partnership, were adopted by the United Nations Member States in 2015.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) currently offers substantive support and capacity-building to reach the goals and their associated thematic issues. The Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), partnerships, urbanization, transportation, science, and technology are a few of them, along with water, energy, oceans, climate, and Small Island Developing States.

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