Washington Post Article on New Climate Reports & Fossil Fuel Subsidies Quotes Jonathan Patz
Two grim reports on global climate efforts highlight increased fossil fuel subsidies, ill health
Article Author: Seth Borenstein | AP
November 14, 2023
Humanity’s fight to curb climate change is failing in dozens of ways with people getting sicker and dying as the world warms and the fossil fuels causing it get more subsidies, according to two global reports issued Tuesday.
The health journal Lancet’s annual Countdown on climate and health found more people, especially the elderly, dying because of heat waves in recent years and it projects that will soar as temperatures keep rising. The international team of doctors, scientists and economists looked at 47 measurements, many outside health, to diagnose a sick Earth, emphasizing harms they attribute directly to the fossil fuel industry.
“Worrisome is our sluggish response to depart from fossil fuels, which the authors show offers enormous immediate health benefits”
Earlier in the day, the World Resources Institute, Climate Action Tracker, the Bezos Earth Fund and others issued their State of Climate Action report, which found the world off track in 41 of 42 important measurements. It said six indicators are heading in the wrong direction, including fossil fuel subsidies. Also Tuesday, the United States government issued its more than 2,200-page National Climate Assessment that looked at hundreds of measurements for what warming is doing to America.
Key Findings
Good News
“The only bright spot is that global sales of electric passenger vehicles are now on track to match what’s needed”
Heat Waves
“In the U.S., heat deaths for the elderly increased 88% in the past five years compared to 2000 to 2004 with most of that attributable to climate change, the study found”
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