Public health leaders stress climate risk.

• Author: Block, Ben
• Position: EYE ON EARTH - Brief article

A leading medical journal recently called climate change "the biggest global health threat of the 21st century" and urged society's caretakers to better adapt to a warming planet.

"We call for a public health movement that frames the threat of climate change for humankind as a health issue," The Lancet wrote in a May editorial. "Apart from a dedicated few, health professionals have come late to the climate change debate."

Heat waves and the spread of tropical disease are often mentioned as the leading health risks associated with climate change. But it was the indirect effects of water scarcity, shifting food resources, and extreme weather that led The Lancet, in collaboration with the Institute for Global Health at University College London, to sound the alarm. These threats now cause an estimated 150,000 deaths...