Climate Change and Your Health

The Centers for Disease Control in  the States writes  that climate change is a health threat.  They say

Climate is one of many variables known to affect the rates of these infectious diseases. Climate change may result in changing distribution of VBZD prevalent in the U.S. This could cause formerly-prevalent diseases such as malaria and dengue fever to re-emerge, or facilitate the introduction and spread of new disease agents, such as West Nile virus. http://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/vectorborne.htm

So does the World Health Organization.   They state

the overall health effects of a changing climate are likely to be overwhelmingly negative.  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/

An article in the Journal of  American Medical Association reinforces this point.

Harm from climate change includes respiratory disorders, infectious diseases, food insecurity, and mental health disorders, said the JAMA study, Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Global Health.  http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/09/27/doctors-remind-politicians-health-consequences-failure-address-climate-change

One of the consequences of Canadians' denial of climate change has been that we haven't taken action on vector borne illnesses.  Canada only started tracking Lyme disease, a tick borne and treatable illness,  in 2009.  2009, for Pete's sakes! 

Today, Canada's PHA recognizes endemic populations of ticks that could carry the disease in six Canadian provinces: Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia.   http://www.straight.com/news/738356/lyme-disease-surges-north-canada-moves-out-denial

The interior of BC doesn't have any ticks, does it?  Naaaah - we don't have to worry about climate change here - if you're my acquaintance with the Phd and the big case of denial.

If you're not in denial, please contact  your MP and instruct them  to nag  the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   Next time you see your doctor (if you have a doctor) suggest that they collectively remind the government of their responsibilities.  Increased health costs due to climate change are the last thing our health care system needs.

China Canada FIPPA

Elizabeth May's press conference after the China FIPPA was quietly passed on a Friday.  Please listen to the whole thing - Elizabeth May is amazing.  She says this treaty trumps court decisions.

 

 

 

Why would Mr. Harper pass this thing?  Perhaps he's attempting to do an end run around the rights of First Nations.  The Tyee suggested that was the case in an article yesterday.

Perhaps most importantly, the deal fails to protect aboriginal rights under the Constitution. The implications of this omission are profound. While our federal government has a duty to consult First Nations, Chinese state-owned companies can sue Canada through a secret international arbitration panel for any such accommodation that impacts their economic interests. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2014/09/25/Harper-Skins-Constitution/

And even if we abrogate this tomorrow, we're in thrall to it for the next sixteen years. 

Climate Change Denial

The climate has changed.   It's affecting us.  right here, right now.  The photo below is of Kamloops on July 23, 2014.   No, this dealership isn't anywhere near the river.

Today's Globe and Mail describes an event that affects 20 million people in Brazil.  No water.....

South America’s largest city is nine months into an unprecedented drought, with no end in sight. The water shortage is already squeezing businesses in Sao Paulo and threatens to further undermine the stalled economy in Brazil, until recently one of the world’s fastest-growing. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/unprecedented-drought-puts-sao-paulo-water-supply-at-risk/article20798270/#dashboard/follows/

Why do people still deny climate change?  Or deny that we need to take action now?

A right wing editor states that:


"The people I work with at the National Post — because there are some colleagues I have who are what you may call 'climate change deniers' — generally the one universal aspect is that they tend to be right-wing in their thinking, they see market-based solutions as the solution to enriching our society in every respect and it bothers them, the idea that here's this problem that cannot be solved with unfettered industrial activity." https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7545992365056379718#editor/target=post;postID=1041667914935287024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YnJa5-wZk&feature=player_embedded

An educated person I know - she teaches at a university  -  said "It won't happen in my lifetime.   And I'm enjoying the warm September."  When I retorted that I hoped she would enjoy a polar vortex winter, she said, " But that happened in TO. It won't happen here." 

Climate change deniers are afraid of changing their comfortable lifestyles and world views.  I have news for them:  change is inevitable.  Climate change is already here.  If we don't treat it as a major crisis, things are gonna get a whole lot worse. 

Back To Life

The Fez River winds through the medina of Fez, Morocco—a mazelike medieval city that’s a World Heritage site. Once considered the “soul” of this celebrated city, the river succumbed to sewage and pollution, and in the 1950s was covered over bit by bit until nothing remained. TED Fellow Aziza Chaouni recounts her 20 year effort to restore this river to its former glory, and to transform her city in the process.

http://www.ted.com/talks/aziza_chaouni_how_i_brought_a_river_and_my_city_back_to_life?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button__2014-08-19

This is a fairly  short, very cool TED talk.  Would it be possible to rejuvenate Petersen Creek in Kamloops?  How about in your city?

Is Anyone Else Seeing a Pattern Here?

Recent news:

• Near-record rainfall has caused massive flooding in the Detroit area that is blamed for at least one death and has made roads impassable, swamped vehicles and flooded basements, officials said.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/michigan-floods-at-least-1-dead-1-000-cars-abandoned-1.2734986
•  
• The country suffered almost €2bn (£1.6bn) worth of damage to homes, infrastructure and industry in May, when heavy rains caused rivers to burst their banks, sweep away roads and bridges and set off hundreds of landslides. More than 20 people died in Bosnia and more than 60 in Serbia.  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/08/bosnia-floods-missing-emergency
•  
• New York's heaviest downpour on record dumped a summer's worth of rain on parts of Long Island in a matter of hours on Wednesday, swamping highways before drivers could escape, flooding basements and causing at least one death.
  The 33cm recorded at the MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma during the morning was more than the area's normal combined total for June, July and August of 27cm.
  ^{http://www.news24.com/Green/News/Just-one-major-storm-floods-Long-Island-20140814}
•  
  Residents of Kamloops and other parts of southern B.C. are cleaning up after torrential rains soaked the region on Wednesday, causing flash flooding, power outages and small mudslides.  Environment Canada estimates the city of Kamloops was hit with about 25 mm of rain in about 20 minutes, flooding streets with muddy rivers of water, catching many people by surprise. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kamloops-cleans-up-from-flash-flooding-1.2716899
• 
   

Yup - there's a pattern - extreme flooding.  In fact,extreme weather events are becoming more common.   

 

The work shows so-called “blocking patterns”, where hot or wet weather remains stuck over a region for weeks causing heatwaves or floods, have more than doubled in summers over the last decade.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/11/extreme-weather-common-blocking-patterns

 So - maybe we should take climate change seriously. Actually do something, I mean.   Whaddya think?  Wanna keep rolling the dice - gambling that serious effects wont' happen while you're alive?   Looks like that's a bad bet.....

 

Write your MP.    Lobby the provincial government. 

 

 

Lemmings

I have been thinking about owls,  their prey, and population cycles.  Per Wikipedia,  a population cycle is

a phenomenon where populations  rise and fall over a predictable period of time. There are some species where population numbers have reasonably predictable patterns of change although the full reasons for population cycles is one of the major unsolved ecological problems. There are a number of factors which influence population change such as availability of food, predators, diseases and climate.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_cycle

Climate change is affecting the habitat of humans.  See Calgary, floods.

Many Canadian cities and towns are ill-prepared for the rising frequency of catastrophic weather events like the southern Alberta floods, and it’s a problem that taxpayers will ultimately end up paying for, climate change experts say.   http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/06/26/f-climate-change-flooding-weather-preparation.html 

So what?  So,  - weather events on this scale are traumatic for those swept up (or away) in them.  And they're expensive.  Very expensive.    

Now, the province faces a potentially decade-long cleanup effort that could cost $5 billion by BMO Nesbitt Burns estimates. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/06/26/f-climate-change-flooding-weather-preparation.html

Would it not be prudent and sensible to acknowledge our impact on the climate and actually take effective steps to prevent and mitigate climate change?   After all, 

The problem of extreme weather will only become more dangerous. It has already become commonplace, destroying crops, riverbanks, homes, towns, factories and offices. Insurance providers, whether governments or corporations, are less willing and able to underwrite risks and compensate policy holders.  http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/underestimate-climate-change-underfund-innovation

Of course it would.   Do lemmings think about maintaining their population at a level the natural resources can support?  Do they worry about the future of their children if they destroy their environment?  I dont' know if they do - but humans don't .  Or don't seem to.  Perhaps humanity has a  10,000 year population cycle.

WTF, Abbotsford?

I knew the Fraser Valley was conservative:  after all, Gramma lives there and no-one has ever called her inclusive or accepting!  However, I didn't think Abbotsford residents were heartless.  They certainly  sound  heartless to me.  For one thing,   they haven't protested a bylaw that's been in place since 2005.  The bylaw prohibits harm reduction services for addicts.   Not everyone approves of the bylaw, of course. In fact, there's a law suit in the offing.  

Three injection drug users filed a lawsuit Tuesday over an Abbotsford, B.C., bylaw that has banned harm-reduction services such as clean needle exchanges for the past eight years, arguing the prohibition violates their charter rights and needlessly puts them at risk. The lawsuit comes as councillors in the Fraser Valley community study the future of the bylaw, which health officials say is preventing them from providing harm reduction services in an area with some of the province’s highest rates of overdoses and infections of HIV and hepatitis C. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/drug-users-in-abbotsford-bc-sue-over-bylaw-that-bans-clean-needle-exchange/article12050284/ 

Moreover, Abbotsford employees  dumped chicken manure where homeless gather in an attempt to  - what?  Make the homeless magically disappear?    The City managers discussed this at length.

"Internal emails indicate that numerous City of Abbotsford departments took part in formulating a plan to dump chicken manure on a homeless camp last month. What's more, one email suggests the Salvation Army was aware of the plan to use fertilizer at the Gladys Avenue camp across the street from the charity's Centre of Hope. Managers from Abbotsford's bylaw, forestry, roads and parks departments shaped the plan, according to emails made public through a CBC freedom of information request."   http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/story.html?id=8703896#ixzz2aC2FkJTq

(By the way, the Salvation Army denies it condoned or knew about the Drive Them Away With Shit plan. )

Moreover, Abbotsfordians say they will not support a proposed BC housing supportive recovery project - no matter the benefits of same to the community.  No matter what evidence is presented!  I'm not kidding! 

 Early July:The Abbotsford Downtown Business Association (ADBA) begins to circulate a petition against the proposed ACS housing project. Emails to ADBA members include inaccurate information regarding the nature and scope of the project. July 12: The ADBA presents at ASDAC, stating that there is no possible chance that they will support the housing project no matter what evidence of its benefit to the city is presented. Objections to their stance by ASDAC members are ignored.http://www.abbotsfordtoday.ca/a-crisis-of-conscience/

Therefore,  Abbotsford is facing another law suit.

 

Pivot Legal Society has agreed to represent approximately 10 people in a civil suit against the city. They allege that tents and belongings were destroyed by city workers, part of the action taken by the city to stop the homeless and drug users from camping near a Salvation Army. http://globalnews.ca/news/737370/abbotsford-being-sued-for-dumping-chicken-manure-to-chase-away-homeless-people/

 

Just in case you need your memory refreshed on the benefits of harm reduciton strategies, here's some information from the Vancouver sun.

A large body of scientific evidence demonstrates that Insite and other harm reduction programs, such as needle exchanges, are effective in reducing the harms associated with illicit drug use. Sadly, ideological debate about harm reduction continues, despite widespread agreement among health authorities, including the World Health Organization, that such programs are essential to the fight against HIV/AIDS and other drug-related harms

. http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/Evidence+trumps+ideology+over+public+health+benefits+Insite/8704065/story.html

 Or from Vancouver Coastal health:

"The fatal overdose rate in [Vancouver's Downtown Eastside] decreased by 35% after the opening of the SIF"… “Supervised injection facilities clearly have an important part to play in communities affected by injection drug use. “Brandon D L Marshall, M-J Milloy, Evan Wood, Julio S G Montaner, Thomas Kerr THE LANCET http://www.communityinsite.ca/science.html

  Does the City of Abbotsford and the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association realize the damage they're doing to their reputations?  Please help them make that realization:  Email them  - or phone them - and let them know. Ask them to live up to their "  city-wide initiative on diversity and inclusion that aims to build interfaith and intercultural connections and thereby reduces issues of social alienation, racism and discrimination."

Abbotsford Downtown Business Association

Telephone: (604) 850-6547

Fax: (604) 859-6507

Email: executive@downtownabbotsford.com City of Abbotsford Toll Free1-866-853-2281