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Monday, 22 March 1999
Algal blooms that threaten water quality and the incursion of new deadly diseases into northern Australia may be signals that human health faces a significant threat from changes in the world’s climate, according to the professor of public health at the Australian National University, Professor Tony Adams.
Professor Adams will address this issue in his World Meteorological Day address Weather, Climate and Health, tomorrow, Tuesday 23 March 1999, at 11.15am at the Bureau of Meteorology, 150 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. The theme for the day set by the World Meteorological Organization recognises the pivotal role National Meteorological Services play in warning of the influence of weather and climate on human health.
Professor Adams will say that the world could face serious public health disasters from global warming, and that, like the early days of the AIDS epidemic in 1983-84, he has in the past felt distinctly uneasy about the prospect. He will indicate that a number of diseases appear to be increasing around the world, and that in general, global public health is deteriorating.
He will note that the first outbreak on the Australian mainland of the life-threatening disease Japanese Encephalitis occurred last year. And in January, an Australian mosquito species capable of carrying Ross River Fever virus was detected in New Zealand for the first time. He will explain that while human-induced climate change may be the culprit, the events may also be the result of normal climate variability combined with mismanagement of the environment.
Nevertheless, he will advise that we must take very seriously the prospect of droughts due to climate warming and the serious effect on agriculture. He sees the spectre of huge numbers of refugees with attendant problems of violence and disease.
Professor Adams will urge us to continue to push to limit greenhouse gas emissions and will indicate that the time is ripe for a greater research effort to more accurately define the links between weather, climate and health.
The 1996 report on Climate Change and Human Health prepared under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), concluded that the impact on human health of sustained shifts in regional rainfall and temperature due to global warming would be to alter the spread of infectious diseases and to reduce agricultural production - a mostly negative effect.
The worldwide spread of malaria, which Professor Adams will describe as an international calamity, will be detailed in his address, particularly with reference to Australia’s northern neighbours such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Dengue, a viral disease carried by mosquitoes which has been circulating in North Queensland and the Torres Strait islands since 1981, will also be discussed. Its spread into more temperate climates and the effect of climate change on its distribution will also be detailed.
Professor Adams will outline the health effects of other vector-borne diseases, of “heat islands” in major cities, of extreme weather events, and of rising sea levels. The incidence of skin cancer in Australia and the “confusing” message about the hole in the ozone layer will also be noted.
Invitation
The media is invited to attend the World Meteorological Day address from 10.30am. Copies of the speech, the Bureau’s public education material, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) press kit, and a VHS video on the Weather, Climate and Health theme will be available. Special displays will be on show in the Head Office exhibition area and at each of the Bureau’s Regional Offices in all capital cities.
Background
The influence of weather on health in Australia is well illustrated by the death toll from extreme weather events. From 1804 to 1994, 4200 Australians died from heat stress, 2300 from tropical cyclones, at least 2100 from floods, 650 from bushfires and 650 from lightning strikes.
Of particular note are events such as Tropical Cyclone Tracy in 1974 (66 killed), the Brisbane floods of 1974 (16) and the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983 (76).
Extreme weather events are felt much more in poorer countries which suffer 95 per cent of the average 250,000 deaths from natural disasters each year. Of note is Hurricane Mitch which last year killed 10,000 people around Nicaragua in Central America, and the Bangladesh floods of 1994 which killed 140,000.
Variations in the weather from year-to-year also present risks to health. The 1997-98 El Nino drought in Australia and South-East Asia devastated food production in Papua New Guinea and contributed to fires in Indonesia which sent dense smoke haze for thousands of kilometres and affected millions in the region. The World Meteorological Organization attributed 22,000 deaths to the 1997-98 El Nino event.
At the opposite end of the scale, severe La Nina events - associated with wetter, humid and more cyclonic conditions in Australia - have been linked with the spread of mosquitoes and other vectors which can adapt quickly to changes in climate, and can carry diseases such as Australian Encephalitis.
Contacts
Professor Tony Adams, professor of public health, the Australian National University.
tel: (02) 6249 5616 e-mail: tony.adams@anu.edu.au
Carol Skinner, Bureau of Meteorology, National Climate Centre. Expert on urban environment.
tel: (03) 9669 4589 e-mail: c.skinner@bom.gov.au (unavailable Thursdays).
Robin Hicks, Bureau of Meteorology, Services Policy Branch. Expert on public weather warning policy.
tel: (03) 9669 4585 e-mail: r.hicks@bom.gov.au
Dr Neville Nicholls, Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre. Expert on climate change and the greenhouse effect.
tel: (03) 9669 4407 e-mail: n.nicholls@bom.gov.au (available from Wednesday)
Mark Jenkin, Esther Amott, Tony Davis, Bureau of Meteorology, Public Affairs Unit.
tel: (03) 9669 4552/4668/4564 e-mail: pro@bom.gov.au fax: (03) 9669 4113
Ends
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