The health risks from climate change are mounting

stephen says:

04:40am | 23/11/09

Dengue fever, yes. But don’t forget that a heated atmosphere will probably affect our immune system, which subsequently will severely limit our bodies ability to fight off disease.

Wayne Hutchins says:

04:53am | 23/11/09

Your very first article and it’s just another Labor scare campaign! Did Krudd ask you to write this one? Not once does any one put up proof, just bold statements that he said, she said or “it is reported. Why don’t you lot just come out and say “OUR BEST GUESS IS”. You can model anything and make it come out just the way you want. Show me the proof! Stop telling me to blindly follow on with this crap.

Joel B1 says:

07:50am | 23/11/09

Well said Wayne.

Facts don’t fit with the AGW religion.

DigiDave says:

08:01am | 23/11/09

Here we go again.  Another dodgy article from someone who simply follows the pack, and refuses to actually check facts.

1. 100 times more people worldwide die from cold related problems than from heat related problems.  Ergo, global warming is in fact saving lives at this stage.

2. The current heat waves are NOT unprecidented, so they cannot be attributed to climate change or global warming.

3. Global Warming stopped 10 years ago, or maybe paused.  No one seems to know, and certainly not 1 single scientist involved in the IPCC reports of the last 10 years predicted this stop.

Okay Amanda, where are your FACTS ?

Sherlock says:

08:18am | 23/11/09

Hey Amanda I’ll make you a bet.

In the next 50 years far more people will freeze to death then die from any issues related to “climate change”

T.Chong says:

08:47am | 23/11/09

Sherlock: 9:18 you must be refering to first world economies, the only ones that matter, right?
Far more will die/do die from drought failed crops etc than westerners freezing.
Ever heard of Africa,and the devastating droughts, or dont they count?

What's fair says:

09:07am | 23/11/09

Good Morning Punchers

Whilst it is sad that people are succumbing to the heat, linking the weather to climate (a common lay man mistake throughout this debate) is incorrect and in this case irresponsible.  I don’t remember exactly, but 20 or so years ago there were a few dengue fever outbreaks up north as well.  Also, Adelaide has been prone to heatwaves in the past much more sever than the current heatwave.

On a related topic, I find it strange that there are 3 new articles relating to climate change this morning and not one of them related to the release of emails and documents from the Hadley centre?  Obviously there is the issue of verifying the genuineness of the data, but surely this is newsworthy?  Or is it that journalists are allowing personal beliefs to take precedence over objectivity?

Charles says:

09:12am | 23/11/09

Another fact-free rant from a Labor poltician.  How much stupidity can you cram into one article before someone notes that it has passed the point of meaning anything.

Weather is not climate, mosquitoes are common at both Poles, so a bit of warming in the middle won’t change their demograpohic too much.

More people die of cold than warm, and in fact if you had any grasp on the science you would know that increased warmth means increased evaporation, means increased precipitiation, so droughts are not the logical conclusion of AGW.  That conclusion is the domain of those scientists who are trying to wring more grants from the government, and do so by frightening witless politicians like yourself, who have no sense of discernment and can’t be bothered trying to get their heads around the subject anyway. 

Try doing something that ALP governments have been destroying for the past decade or so, that is have a read around and find out what the issues are, before you regurgitate the propaganda that some apparatchik in the party has recently poured down your throat.

Terry Barnes says:

09:14am | 23/11/09

Amanda Rishworth MP’s preening polemic puffery reminds us that there is one huge source of hot air that we can do something about - Federal Parliament.

T.Chong says:

09:29am | 23/11/09

It appears the latest Liberal diversion point is to claim that more people will freeze than any other issue with climate change.
What crap. Again, this spurios claim seems to be focussed on western societies.
How do Liberal apologists so obviosly discard whats happening in 3rd world countries, or does ignorance equal bliss with these flat earthers?

Frankie V. says:

09:43am | 23/11/09

To be fair to Mandy, she never claimed that the recent weather was caused by global warming.  That honour goes to our congenitally untruthful pretend-Anglican Prime Minister.

DigiDave says:

09:48am | 23/11/09

@T.Chong - What is happening in 3rd world countries ?  And why do you specifically blame so called AGW ?

Most of the problems faced by 3rd world countries are to do with their own inept and corrupt governments, and being stiffled in their ability to adapt.  More problems are then caused by zealous greenies blocking all attempts to improve their situations by allowing dams and power stations to be built.

And what is your problem with stating that more people die from cold related issues ?  That was a specific response to Amanda’s poor effort in relating AGW to heat related deaths, and how tragic this is.  Once again, you attack with verbal abuse, and ignore facts.  Do you always argue this way ?

Toddzilla says:

09:54am | 23/11/09

Good to see some warmenist morons stating that more people will die as a result of droughts and famine when the fact is that an extra 50 million people are alive today as a direct result of the increased CO2 levels. You see, and this will be a shock to the greenies, CO2 is plant food - they love it, can’t get enough of it and they grow at almost twice the rate when exposed to additional CO2. That is why the earth is producing far more crops than ever. CO2 has saved millions and given we know it has little or no effect on the environment (sorry, that information has to be suppressed), we can safely conclude that CO2 is good and for the greater good of society we need more of it. Feed the needy, not the wallets of warming preachers.

John of Perth says:

09:58am | 23/11/09

What climate change?
I thought that was only change of the seasons.
But we need more hospital beds in case it will get too hot.

Sherlock says:

11:33am | 23/11/09

T.Chong @ 09:47am

My comment seems to be clear to everyone except you.  Let me repeat it - In the next 50 years far more people will freeze to death then die from any issues related to “climate change”

I never put any geographical or economic boundaries on it.

Joel B1 says:

12:00pm | 23/11/09

Wasn’t there quite a bit more CO2 in the atmosphere when the warm or cold (science still can’t make up it’s mind)-blooded Dinosaurs were about?

And all that massive plant life. So much plant life in fact that it formed the basis of all that lovely oil we use! Yet a little more CO2 is a catastrophe now?

Bizarre

(And don’t some people who like growing plants indoors actually add CO2 to the atmos mix?)

T.Chong says:

01:17pm | 23/11/09

Apologies Sherlock, I missed the Alan Jones interview when Wilson Tuckey and Senator Fielding released this latest research about what will happen unless we continue to help the enviroment with extra accelarated global warming via atmospheric pollutants.
Cant trust mother nature,can we?
Quick reminder about some of the science please- ie more freezing will get us, droughts are caused by political corruption,not corruption of the enviroment etc
The evidence must be pretty conclsive, right?
and its not just Liberal party spruikers?

Matt says:

01:45pm | 23/11/09

You mean climate change is the cause of heatwaves?! Holy mackeral…let me get this straight: The Earth’s climate which has always changed and will continue so it’s responsible for heat???? No. Say it ain’t so.

You meant to have said Man-made co2 induced climate change, perhaps 3 years ago it would of been global warming but the overall encompassing propaganda slogan is ‘climate change’.

And what do you expect in summer? I mean honestly. And in every capital city across this nation we have ‘Walk against warming’ in SUMMER at 10am… Well shock horror I wonder who’ll complain that it’s hotter than usual.

I for one will counter this and attend myself to educate people that they aren’t to blame and real eco problems need addressing.

Liz says:

02:05pm | 23/11/09

Modelling? What with primitive models that show nothing that relates to what is actually happening or about to happen.The planet has always gone through change.Adelaide’s weather today is cool and we’ve had rain.This is alarmist rubbish.Sure we need big industry and businesses to reduce polluting emissions,power use and water use but stop scaring the little guy whose actions have minimal impact.

Bruce says:

03:21pm | 23/11/09

Does the writer really think that “the mighty Human race” is going to stop or even effect climate change? Has the writer read Dorothea Mackellers “My Country” ? It gives you a little picture of what she thought of conditions in Australia was, some 100 years ago. Not much has changed !

Rutger says:

03:32pm | 23/11/09

I’m worried about the level of methane in the atmosphere emitted by the guy in the cubicle beside me.

Graham says:

12:19am | 24/11/09

Sweet Jesus! I am feel nothing but embarassment for this writer. People actually voted for this person? My teenage daughter could write a better piece than this load of garbage.
How many people die from malaria every year Trish? You may find quite a lot, but most don’t have the ability to pay taxes of any great worth, so this horrific loss of life does not really spur anyone to action. Think of their poor children, think of their grandchildren! , and now the seas will rise 6m and the resulting pools of water will only breed more mosquitos, where will it end!?
Cut this crap, do your job in the national interest, not in a certain lobby’s interest. That is what you are paid to do (by us).

Lawence Edward Calcutt says:

05:35pm | 02/02/10

If you viewers and posters don´t like this gal, please oh please, send her to Canada. We have people here who can use her talants,
We got big problems too and can use her.

Ricardo says:

12:06pm | 31/05/12

Organic waste often gets covered up and deomopcses anaerobically (ie without oxygen). So in landfill it often releases methane instead of CO2 like it would if it were incinerated. Methane, molecule for molecule, packs a much higher warming punch than CO2 (about 25 times higher is the current best estimate, but recent research suggests it could be even bigger).Also, it’s not so much what the waste does, as what it affects further down the supply chain.It takes trees to make paper, and a lot of energy to make paper/glass/metal/etc from raw resources. If you throw away a can then any new cans will need to be made from ore which is very energy intensive.If you recycle the can, this prevents a new one from being made from ore; and recycling saves approximately 95% of the energy for aluminium (it doesn’t save as much for plastic, paper and glass, but in most cases you’re still better off).Most of our energy comes from fossil fuels, so by reducing energy use you’re reducing fossil fuel use and therefore CO2 emissions, which the overwhelming majority of the scientific community says is very important in global warming.