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October
24, 2002
Pollution
Probe calls on Premier Eves: Support the Kyoto Protocol
New
report projects severe health impacts from climate change; Health care
infrastructure not prepared
(Toronto, ON)
-- Pollution Probe is urging Ontario Premier Ernie Eves to support
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming because the alternative
will be much worse, Pollution Probe Executive Director Ken Ogilvie said today.
Ratifying is more urgent than
ever because scientific data is accumulating to show that the effects of
global warming on the Greater Toronto Area and Niagara Region will be drastic,
said Pollution Probe, which has prepared a new report.
The report titled Towards
an Adaptation Action Plan: Climate Change and Health in the Toronto Niagara
Region released today notes
that:
- Climate change will be increasingly noticeable
in this region within as soon as 20 years;
- Air quality is likely to be 5 to 8 times worse
than it is now – even after the worst smog summer on record;
- This will add to the nearly 2000 premature
deaths in Ontario due to air pollution, as estimated by the Ontario
Medical Association;
- Ontario will become increasingly susceptible to
warm-climate diseases such as the West Nile virus;
- The number of days above 30 degrees C could
double by the 2030s and surpass 50 days by the 2080s.
“Kyoto is only a tiny step
toward controlling a serious worldwide environmental problem, but it’s a
necessary one,” Mr. Ogilvie said. He urged the premier, who met with his
Alberta counterpart Ralph Klein to discuss a provincial response to global
warming, to support the federal government’s plan to ratify the Kyoto
Protocol.
Premier Klein has urged Ontario
to take a slower approach to curbing greenhouse gases, which contribute to
global warming.
“A slower approach is
tantamount to no approach,” Mr. Ogilvie added. “We think Ontario should be
an environmental leader, not a follower.”
Dr. Quentin Chiotti, Senior
Scientist and Air Programme director at Pollution Probe said a comprehensive
province-wide approach to global warming is necessary because the health
implications alone are beyond what the current health care system can handle.
“Young children today will
witness a doubling of heat stress days by the time they are having children of
their own,” Dr. Chiotti observed. ”We’ll need to monitor, diagnose and
treat the health-related impacts of climate change.”
The new report is available at www.pollutionprobe.org/Reports/adaptation.pdf
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For further information, please
contact:
Dr. Quentin Chiotti (report
author)
Air Programme Director & Senior Scientist
416-926-1907 x236
Ken Ogilvie
Executive Director
416-926-1907 x231
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