Transcript Nov 30 2007 Climate Change and Health - Nicki - CHNET

Welcome to Fireside Chats
Climate Change and Health –
What role do nurses play?
Friday November 30, 2007 1:00 – 2:30 PM Eastern Time
Advisor on Tap:
Nicki Sims-Jones
Environment Manager, Canadian Nurses Association
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Agenda:
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Sign in and tech help prior to the ‘chat’...
Welcome, Housekeeping and Introductions
Presentation and Discussions
Closure
Today’s ‘chat’...
• Issue:
– Human activity has resulted in changes to our climate
that will have a profound impact on the health and
well-being of populations worldwide.
– What is nursing’s role?
• Objectives:
– Increase knowledge of climate change and health
– Increase understanding of climate change and social
justice
– Describe adaptation to climate change
– Identify mitigation strategies
– Discuss potential nursing responses
Advisor on Tap
Nicki Sims-Jones
•
Nicki is the Environment Manager at the Canadian Nurses Association. She
is responsible for the environmental health project that the CNA is planning
as part of its centenary activities. The main goals of the project are to
increase nurses’ awareness of environmental health issues, and provide
them with the tools and information they need to support environmental
health in the domains of nursing practice, education, research and policy.
•
In addition to a BScN from the University of Ottawa, and an MScN from the
University of Toronto, Nicki has a Diploma in Environment and Health from
McMaster University. She worked in maternal child health in hospital and
community settings, as a staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist and manager
of the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program before joining Health
Canada in 2001. While working in the Teaching Health Unit in Ottawa she
was also an Investigator with the Community Health Research Unit. In the
federal government she has worked as a policy analyst both in the First
Nations and Inuit Health Branch and in the Office of Children’s
Environmental Health. Nicki is cross-appointed to the University of Ottawa
and has published on a variety of topics in peer-reviewed and other
journals. She is presently on interchange with the CNA from Health Canada
and is enjoying working with nurses on environmental health issues
Climate change
“Climate change is not just an environmental
issue, as too many people still believe.
It is an all-encompassing threat.”
- Kofi Annan, 2006
Why an issue for nurses?
• It is going to affect the health of the people
we work with;
• It is a social justice issue as the negative
effects of climate change are felt most
acutely by those who have low GHG
emissions; and
• We have the skills to make an impact in
supporting people to adapt to their
changing climate.
Nursing’s role in climate change
• Adaptation
– Emergency planning/preparedness
– Warning systems for heat waves
– Protective technologies
– Behaviour changes
• Mitigation
– Energy efficient, homes, appliances and
automobiles
– Walking, cycling, transit to work
– Urban planning to decrease commutes
– Less travel for business
– Eating local foods etc.
© Environment Canada:
http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/education/scienceofclimatechange
/understanding/greenhouse_gases/index_f.html
Climate Change
2007, The Physical
Science Basis,
Summary for
Policymakers,
Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate
Change
Impact of climate change on
health
• In Canada:
– Temperature extremes – heat waves
– Extreme weather events and natural disasters
– Air quality
– Food and water
– Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases
– Stratospheric ozone depletion
– Social and economic impacts on community
health and well-being
© Her Majesty the
Queen in
Right of
Canada,
represented
by the Minister
of Health
(2005).
Climate change and social justice
© Greenpeace: http://weblog.greenpeace.org/climatesummit/climate_images.html
Deaths attributed to climate change NOW
150,000 per year
xxx
Patz, J., et al. (November, 2005). Impact of regional climate change on human health.
Nature, vol. 438.
16
Adaptation to climate change
• Depends on:
– Population density, level of economic
development, food availability, income level and
distribution, local environmental conditions, preexisting health status, and the quality/availability
of public health care
• “No regrets” responses address these issues
without making climate change the
determining factor in decision-making
• Planning for emergencies and heat waves
Mitigation of climate change
• International agreements
– Montreal protocol on ozone
– Kyoto Protocol
• Turning the corner
– Impose mandatory targets on industry to reduce
production of GHGs in half by 2015
– Regulate fuel efficiency of cars and light-duty trucks
beginning 2011
– Strengthen energy efficiency of products
– Different from Kyoto in that base year 2006, not 1990
Canada’s GHG Emissions 1990-2005
(Environment Canada, 2006)
© Transport Canada http://www.tc.gc.ca/road/vehiclesafety.htm#top
Mitigation Strategies
• GHG emissions can be cut in four ways:
– Reducing demand for emissions-intensive
goods and services
– Increasing efficiency, which can save both
money and emissions
– Acting on non-energy emissions such as
avoiding deforestation
– Switching to lower-carbon technologies for
power, heat and transport.
Some Policy Debates
• Absolute cap on emissions versus
intensity
• Leadership by developed world versus
BAU until developing world signs on to
targets.
Nursing’s role in climate change
• Adaptation
– Emergency planning/preparedness
– Warning systems for heat waves
– Protective technologies
– Behaviour changes
• Mitigation
– Energy efficient, homes, appliances and
automobiles
– Walking, cycling, transit to work
– Urban planning to decrease commutes
– Less travel for business
– Eating local foods etc.
World Wildlife Federation:
Activities to Reduce GHG Emissions At Home
• If you're buying a washing machine, refrigerator, dishwasher or oven,
buy the most energy-efficient model you can afford. They might be more
expensive but they pay for themselves through lower energy bills.
• If living in Ontario or Alberta, buy non-polluting green electricity from
Bullfrog Power.
• Replace the lights you use most with compact fluorescent lights. They
cost more than ordinary lights but you end up saving money because
they use only around one-quarter of the electricity to produce the same
light. And they last four times as long as a normal light bulb!
• Turn off lights, televisions, videos, stereos and computers when they are
not in use.
• Eliminate drafts that lose energy from your home. Plug holes around
doors and windows.
• Insulate your hot water tank, attic, floors and walls.
• Fit solar panels on the roof of your home.
• Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when you have a full load.
Use energy efficient cycles.
• Don't leave taps running.
• Set your water thermostat for 50 degrees - this is plenty warm enough
for bathing and washing and will save money too.
World Wildlife Fund…cont.
At work or at school:
• Buy the most energy-efficient office equipment: computers, copiers, and
printers.
• Get your company to do an audit of all its energy use, including production
processes and vehicles, and to look for more ways of saving energy
• Turn off computer screens when you take a break
• Save paper (and the energy used in its production) by printing on both sides
and by recycling used paper
• Start a project at your school to track down and eliminate energy waste
Out and about:
• Leave the car at home when you make short journeys
• Use a bicycle for short trips and local shopping.
• Make more use of public transport, such as buses and trains, for longer
journeys.
• Car pool with work colleagues or friends.
• If you have to buy a car, buy a fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly one.
This will save you money and keep more CO2 from going into the
atmosphere.
• Don't idle your vehicle.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=2429
“Courage my friends, it’s not too late
to make the world a better place.”
Comments/ Questions
from Participants
Your comments and questions please......
Key Messages.....
• Nurses have a very real choice of whether to
become involved now with climate change, or to
wait until we are dealing with its potentially
catastrophic effects on individuals, families and
communities.
• Climate Change will not go away on its own –
and nurses have the skills to make a difference.
• For more information: http://www.cnaaiic.ca/CNA/issues/environment/websites/default
_e.aspx
Final Discussion Questions.....
• What can ‘next steps’ be to address this
issue?
• What opportunities for action are on the
horizon? (what, when, where, how to take
advantage of these opportunities)
• Who do you need to hear from next on this
issue/topic?
• What other information would help?
Thanks for joining in!
Thanks for joining in!
For more information about CHNET-Works! and
future Fireside Chats
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