This Climate Business podcast: Climate is a health issue too – Dr Jan Raymond, Ora Taiao (edited excerpt)
Listen to the full episode here.
Vincent
"This is the ninth report of The Lancet Countdown. They've been tracking the growth of heat and climate change-affected health impacts. Extreme drought lasting at least one month has affected 48% of the globe. 151 million more people faced moderate or severe food insecurity. Are these numbers a surprise to you?"
Jan
"No, not really. I'm originally from Canada and I'm hearing from friends about the heatwaves there and in the US plus I read a lot. Here in New Zealand we will have some heat but because we're a small land mass buffered and surrounded by ocean we're not seeing the same heat as our neighbours in Australia. We're going to see food insecurity from the way agribusiness is working combined with droughts, floods and extreme weather events. That's how it's going to affect us."
Vincent
"These effects are networked insofar as they might be the consequences of other events. In the Guardian report of The Lancet story they mention that lost sleep has increased by 6%. If you're so hot you can't sleep that's going to cause health-related problems."
Jan
"Sleep is huge in the terms of health effects relating to mood, mental function and general physical wellbeing. I've seen studies in the US in school learning where it gets so hot the children can't think properly. They can't learn, they can't pay attention. They’re more irritable. And of course, it's often, once again, the disadvantaged schools that don't have enough air conditioning. It's a multiplicity of effects. But I'm more concerned about the nutrition."
Vincent
"You've done work here thinking about the experience New Zealanders will have from drought, heat and extreme weather events. What are the major implications for New Zealanders around health?"
Jan
"Not being able to afford fruit and vegetables. Remember a year or two ago when floods affected kumara patches and they were up to $30 a kilo. Who can afford that? My concern is that people will go for cheaper, unhealthy food because they can't afford healthy food. But there's a bigger issue. The major contributor to greenhouse gases here in New Zealand is the agriculture business. It's mainly meat and dairy Not only do they contribute to greenhouse gases, we know now that processed meat has been officially classified by the World Health Organisation as a carcinogen. We have a real opportunity here to improve our health and at the same time address the climate and environmental crisis."
Vincent
“Tell me about the origins of Ora Taiao.”
Jan
“It began in 2009 with an article written by a number of health professionals in the New Zealand Journal of Medicine, raising their concerns about the health effects of climate change. That group got together and formed Ora Taiao. Ora means health, wellbeing, healing, and taiao means, Papatuanuku, Mother Earth, the environment, the world. And so, it's really about healing. People healing, climate healing, and our mother earth healing.
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