Global warming demands we act now

Re Tories zap 758 green energy contracts in Ontario, Online July 13

Of the 15 hottest years since record-keeping began, 14 occurred in the 21st century. This year is already shaping up to be one of the hottest.

As members of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, we are deeply concerned by the health implications of a warming planet. People across the world are already suffering and dying from the direct effects of soaring temperatures.

The indirect health effects of rising temperatures may be even more profound. Diseases such as malaria and dengue fever are predicted to surge as tropical parasites and viruses expand their range. In Canada, we are already seeing an increase in the prevalence of Lyme disease.

Diminution in air quality from heat and pollution is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in Canada annually. The very young and the elderly, as well as people with lung and heart disease, are especially vulnerable. As observed this month in Quebec, the poor are especially vulnerable.

We know the main culprit in global temperature rise is fossil fuels, with more than half of global warming directly attributable to their use. So what are we in Canada doing to mitigate the situation?

At the 2015 Paris climate summit, our prime minister pledged that Canada would take the lead in limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees over pre-industrial levels. Less than three years later, the government of Canada took ownership of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline, which will result in increased extraction and export of fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, the B.C. government is actively promoting its fracking industry, which will increase emissions both from ground methane leakage and combustion of the natural gas.

In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford is cancelling the province’s cap-and-trade system, a significant step backward in the necessary goal of reducing carbon emissions.

As a result of Canadian actions and inaction, the world will get much hotter and many more deaths will occur due to direct heat stress, forest fires and vector-borne diseases.

We, physicians and scientists who are members of CAPE, declare the problem to be urgent; we must take immediate action. We must rapidly transition to renewable sources of energy and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.

There is no other way forward. Drs. Larry Barzelai and Melissa Lem, Vancouver