A multidisciplinary panel of scientific experts from Columbia University has warned that the record-breaking heat the Earth endured during the summer of 2022 will be repeated without a robust international effort to address climate change.
The experts said heat-related deaths, wildfires, extreme rainfall, and persistent drought will become more severe due to continous increase in ocean and atmospheric temperatures, addong that the Earth will continue to warm for several decades even if all greenhouse gas emissions ceased today.
According to Radley Horton, a research professor at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, human-induced climate change has caused the global average atmospheric temperature to warm by about 2 degrees (1.1 degrees Celsius) in the last several decades.
“One of the key takeaways is that a little bit of change in global temperature has an enormous impact,” he said, adding that some of the main consequences include longer and more intense heat waves that are hitting increasingly larger areas.
He also said certain climate models have underestimated just how extreme certain events can be, such as the European heat wave of 2022 and the Pacific Northwest heat wave of 2021.
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“We are locked into a lot of additional climate hazards, there is no way around it,” said Horton.
Diana Hernandez, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, is researching how certain vulnerabilities, such as medical conditions or access to energy, could be affected by changing climate domestically and internationally. The expected impacts include shade inequalities, urban heat islands, and inequitable access to energy-powered medical devices.
“The climate is changing, and we are not adapted to be able to deal with it from a health perspective,” said Cecilia Sorensen, a physician and associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia University Medical Center.
Despite the foreboding climate projections, the panelists expressed hope that considerable strides can be made to minimize future climate impacts related to extreme heat.
Hernandez said a community-focused approach, especially with an emphasis on engagement that is inclusive, will be successful in implementing a wide range of climate adaptation strategies.
For Sorenson, one solution that can be implemented by hospitals is developing emergency room protocols to treat a large influx of patients suffering from heat stroke or related conditions during extreme weather. Improved communications are also needed to increase awareness about the medical risks of extreme heat and how impacts can be prevented, she said.
“Within the problem lies the solution,” said Sorensen.
Story was adapted from AP.
