As many as 16,000 people die prematurely every year in Canada
because of air pollution, and global warming will further increase
the human toll and the burden on the Canadian health care system,
according to a new report released on October 6, 1998, by the David
Suzuki Foundation.
The foundation commissioned "Taking our Breath Away: The Health
Effects of Air Pollution and Climate Change" to Dr. John Last,
professor of epidemiology and community medicine at the University
of Ottawa; Dr. David Pengelly, associate clinical professor in the
Department of Medicine at McMaster University and associate
professor of medicine at the University of Toronto; and Dr. Konia
Trouton, medical epidemiologist with Health Canada's Bureau of
Reproductive and Child Health in Ottawa. The authors conclude that
medical and scientific evidence points to air pollution and climate
change having a major impact on the health of Canadians unless
steps are taken to reduce emissions.
The findings of the report include:
Air pollution is expected to get worse as global warming
progresses, because heat and sunlight are critical factors in the
production of urban smog.
By 2020, an estimated 700,000 premature deaths from particulate
exposure could be prevented around the world each year if moderate
greenhouse gas emission policies were implemented.
In Ontario, the number of infants admitted to hospital for
bronchiolitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia in the summer months
increases by 20 percent when ozone and sulphate levels rise.
Global warming and climate change also have the potential to cause
major health effects in Canada due to more frequent extreme weather
events like the Quebec ice storm and the Red River flood. Rising
sea levels could threaten parts of Vancouver and Eastern Canada.
"The key challenge for Canada to avoid further deterioration in
both human health and the stability of our atmosphere is to accept
the scientific and medical evidence and then to accept the need for
immediate changes," the authors write.
To download a copy of "Taking Our Breath Away," visit the David
Suzuki Foundation website at http://www.davidsuzuki.org.
For more information on global warming, visit EPA's website at
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming
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