Rapid Responses to:
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Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
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Frankly, my dear Watson, you have been misled..
- Dr. Herbert H. Nehrlich (27 March 2009)
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A sample strategy that's working
- Graham LG McAll (27 March 2009)
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Carbon Dependency - a medical approach
- Frances Mortimer (27 March 2009)
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futile gestures ?
- Adrian A Pierry, CF64 3BE (28 March 2009)
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Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind.
- BM Hegde (28 March 2009)
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Carbon Dependence and Peak Oil
- Chris G. Johnstone (28 March 2009)
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From Rhetoric to Reality on GW
- Trevor D Thompson (30 March 2009)
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Simpler Solutions
- Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam (2 April 2009)
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Dr. Herbert H. Nehrlich, Private Practice Bribie Island, Australia
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Misled severely. It seems to me that your intentions are quite laudable but that doesn't change the fact that Global Warming or Climate change is neither of great importance to man nor is there much we can do about it. Warming and cooling have been going on for a very long time, undoubtedly this will continue in cycles determined by mother nature through her disciple the sun. It appears very clear to this observer that science, seen as a huge group of learned men (and women), is still chasing the elusive scientific proof after giving up on making gold from lead. The nineteen seventies were overshadowed by the consensus of dire consequences imminent from Global Cooling. Science predicted another ice age. Some would still be waiting. Reminds me of Nostradamus fans: "Perhaps we miscalculated the exact time?" I shall eat all my hats if someone can show me that anthropogenic climate change is real and that we are facing doom if we don't act. Makes you wonder about the state of education and, more importantly of common sense. Carbon dioxide is as essential as oxygen to life. Are we going to count oxygen molecules next? Competing interests: None declared |
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Graham LG McAll, General Medical Practitioner Devonshire Green Medical Centre, 126 Devonshire Street, Sheffield, S11 7LU
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In 2005 the Manx government set its Health Service the target of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2010. This included patient transport services. The Estates Management Team took up the lead role. When I visited recently I was shown the figures: in the year 2004/5 the Health Service used 55 million kwH of gas, oil and electricity. But last year (2007/8) this was down to 46 million kwH, a reduction of 16% already. The team put their success down to a number of features: support from politicians and staff, the Carbon Trust, and good cost/benefit analyses of technical fixes. Solutions included a new combined heat and power unit in Nobles Hospital, variable fan speeds to ensure optimal ventilation flows, optimising systems which compute when to turn heating on and off to get rooms to the correct temperatures at only the required times, log books for each building with monthly consumption figures by staff, automatic switch off devices where possible, and draught and insulation assessment of buildings which fall outside expected energy consumption. They even have a plant making biodiesel from the waste cooking oils. It seems initial gains can be quick and cost effective but for the major gains radical restructuring of transport, procurement and energy generation will still be vital. It would indeed be ironic if we, the NHS, were a major contributor to future health disasters by our inaction now. Competing interests: None declared |
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Frances Mortimer, Medical Director for the Campaign for Greener Healthcare Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Oxford OX2 7LG
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Recognising dependence on carbon-based fuels as the root of a huge disease burden could rival penicillin as a medical breakthrough.
Interventions borrowed from the field of addictions treatment could unlock enormous health gains - tackling obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, respiratory disease in the West, not to mention malnutrition, diarrhoea and infectious disease elsewhere (see WHO: doi:10.1289/ehp.8432,). Of course, a multidisciplinary approach is needed - www.carbonaddict.org sets out a carbon detox programme based on the bio-psycho-social model, evidence-based of course! What's clear is that a pharmaceutical or surgical approach should be a last resort - the associated carbon emissions will invariably exacerbate the problem... Competing interests: Contributing author to www.carbonaddict.org |
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Adrian A Pierry, GP freelance 2 Marine Parade Penarth, CF64 3BE
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If the initiative of the Climate and Health Council (www.climateandhealth.org) is successful their most optimistic estimate is a saving: 'Equivalent to carbon emissions per year of nearly a quarter of a million people.' Obviously this will be a one off success and only if the effort is maintained, so at its best we could be postponing the catastrophic climate change risk to the health of the population by a few days, the time it takes for this increase in the global population. I feel that there is only one thing worse than doing nothing about carbon emissions, which is to delude oneself that something significant is being done about it. Dr. Adrian Pierry, MRCGP 2 Marine Parade Penarth CF64 3BE Competing interests: None declared |
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BM Hegde, Editor in Chief, Journal of the Sciecne of Healing Outcomes. Mangalore-575 004, India.
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Dear Fiona Godlee, Your editorial seems to have settled the question that anthropogenic global warming is a “scientific” certainty. Is it that simple? Are there other, equally strong, points to ponder over in this vital area? Professor Bob Carter of the James Cook University, Queensland and University of Adelaide has a different opinion based on his forty years’ of research experience. He has the following views: “The alarmist IPCC view of human caused global warming is not settled science. Despite $50 Billion being spent on climate research since 1990, no discernible human impact on the global climate has been detected.” NASA’s Aqua Satellite also does not fully support the view. That probably shows that “absence of evidence is evidence of absence” is not a true adage! Lawrence Solomon, in his classic “The Deniers” (published by National Post in 2007), has collected some of the best scientific brains to give their opinions on this vital subject. Global warming movement seems to be having a hidden agenda if one believes in the science fiction movie made by Al Gore. Most of the recent increase in environmental surface temperature has been attributed to water vapour from evaporation of sea water! There have also been cycles of global warming and cooling in the distant past without impacting human existence significantly. I am a bit confused after reading your editorial. We doctors have many more mundane matters to worry about in addition to putting our house in order. Our Giga problem seems to be our inability to eradicate the mother of all illnesses, poverty, what with its attendant epidemic of NIDS (Nutritional Immune Deficiency Syndrome) that makes AIDS pale into insignificance. As a profession what are our plans to eradicate poverty on a global scale which affects more than 975 million human beings all over? Yours ever, bmhegde Competing interests: None declared |
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Chris G. Johnstone, Alcohol specialist, Bristol Specialist Drug and Alcohol Service, Bristol BS8 4EX.
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According to the World Health Organisation’s ICD 10, a defining feature of dependence syndromes is “persisting with substance use despite clear evidence of overtly harmful consequences”. As an addictions specialist, I see a close parallel between heavy drinking in my clients and our collective heavy use of oil, coal, gas and other carbon-based fuels. We are caught between our attraction to substances we’ve come to depend on and our concerns about where this might lead us. Climate change is not the only public health disaster carbon dependence may lead to. If we’re hooked on substances with a declining supply, we also face the risk of withdrawal symptoms. The UK Government’s Energy White Paper in 2003 stated that, “globally, conventional oil reserves are sufficient to meet projected demand for around 30 years”. We may soon, if we haven’t already, hit the peak capacity for oil production. When our systems of transport, food production, rubbish removal, production of pharmaceuticals and much else depend on heavy use of carbon-based fuels like oil, what will happen when supplies go into decline? In the addictions field, much progress has been made in developing approaches to understanding and working resistance to change. Perhaps now is the time to start using these to address our carbon dependence. Competing interests: None declared |
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Trevor D Thompson, Consultant Senior Lecturer in General Practice University of Bristol BS8 2AA
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Dear Editor In an undergraduate course we run on the "Global Environment and Human Health" here in the University of Bristol, we set about, with a group of 24 medical students, to try and reach balanced conclusions about the science of climate change. But in seeking to diagnose the ailments of the planetary system we soon found we couldn't really understand the primary research. As is so often the case with medicine also, we relied on secondary sources; books, articles, IPCC summaries (both sceptical and fanatical). We did however have one unique source of knowledge in the form of Prof Paul Valdes, one of our Geography professors and co-author of the latest IPCC report. What a breath of fresh air! He explained the political process whereby painstaking research is transmogrified into summaries, editorials and media rhetoric. He said for instance that no climate scientist of repute thought that Hurricane Katrina could be pinned on GW. He explained that the rise in global CO2 is nearly 100% anthropogenic (isotopes have proved this), that the "Medieval Warm Period" was a European not a global warming and that the 2007 reworking of the (in)famous "Mann et al" paper convincingly demonstrates a late 20th rise in average global temperature (the hockey-stick curve much doubted by sceptics). The message is, unfortunately, not clear-cut. Clouds are a mystery. Sea-level rises exceptionally hard to predict because we are not yet sure what is happening with the glaciers. His uncertainty made me more inclined to believe what he was certain about. I now, unlike before, don't think it is scientifically reasonable, or even responsible, to doubt the reality of GW. The students reached this same conclusion. The impact of that reality and what we can do about it are even more complex questions. But given the possibilities for a major screw-up in the global system a "precautionary" approach seems wise, Faithfully Trevor Thompson Competing interests: None declared |
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Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam, Second Year Medical Student Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University, 08100 Bedong, Kedah, Malaysia.
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"We do not borrow this earth from our grandparents, but we owe them from our children" Many diseases are environmentally related. Health-care personals know this and are part of general society, so they too have the responsibility albeit a larger one. In effective public health delivery, one which is a concern of third world countries; going green can save dollars. Tropical climates can afford to have non-AC units, turn off their fans during lunch break (this is done in rural health clinics) and sharing facilities. There is no need to have an X-ray machine in a low population dense area. It could be shared among district health centres. All you need is an ambulance which is multi-functional. Even a simple measure of planting trees around the clinic instead of maintaining a flashy aquarium can go a long run in going green. Trees are inexpensive to maintain, they are hardy and probably would last a lifetime. All of this can be done. We just need to start with baby steps. Competing interests: None declared |
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