Climate Experience:

Hospitals have seen an increase in cardiac arrests.

Explanation:

  • Hospitals see an increase of nearly 50% of cardiac arrests on bushfire smoke-affected days.[1]
  • Bushfire smoke dramatically increases the volume of particle matter in the air and impact populations over hundreds or thousands of kilometres.[2]
  • Increasing temperatures and less rainfall has lead to greater forest fire danger.[3]

Ramifications:

  • Climate change is the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century.[4]
  • Heat-related deaths for 65 year olds and over in Melbourne is expected to jump from 289 people per annum to around 1000 by 2050.[5]
  • The number of dangerous bushfire days is increasing, along with the intensity of fires.[6]
  • Inaction will see an increase in severe fire days in southern and eastern Australia by up to 160-190% by 2090.[7]

What can be done?

  • Email your local MP and tell them that action on climate is important to you and explain the impacts being felt in your area. One email might not feel like much but most politicians consider it to be representative of 100 citizens.
  • Help support the Act on Climate collective by donatingwe are leading the charge for climate action. Your donation helps in advancing policies that prevent climate change from getting worse, we aim to empower communities and build a strong pro-climate-action constituency that governments can’t ignore, and as an added bonus it’s tax-deductable.
  • Get involved with Act on Climate. We meet every Monday at 6pm (upstairs at 312 Smith St, Collingwood) and welcome all newcomers to join in the fight for climate justice. If you are unable to attend, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest campaign.

* We aim to keep our material as accurate and as relevant as possible. Working with climate science, a field that is being constantly updated, keeps us on our toes. Information on this site was gathered on June 1 2019; if you notice information that needs updating please let us know. For the full reference list please see the following.

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[1]Council, “Climate Change and the Victoria Bushfire Threat: Update 2017.”17.

[2]Martine Dennekamp and Michael J Abramson, “The Effects of Bushfire Smoke on Respiratory Health,” Respirology16, no. 2 (2011).198.

[3]CSIRO, “State of the Climate.”5.

[4]Anthony Costello et al., “Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change: Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission,” The Lancet373, no. 9676 (2009).1693.

[5]Efficiency, “Fact Sheet – Victoria.”2.

[6]CSIRO, “State of the Climate.”22.

[7]Council, “Climate Change and the Victoria Bushfire Threat: Update 2017.”15.