A volunteer passed this Washington Post article on to me, and I thought it was scary enough to share. As if we didn’t have enough reasons to fight global warming, what with threats to the economy through sea level rise and the imminent extinction of the polar bears, it will also have significant effects on public health worldwide.
In the last quarter of the 20th century, the average atmospheric temperature rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit. By 2000, that increase was responsible for the annual loss of about 160,000 lives and the loss of 5.5 million years of healthy life, according to estimates by the World Health Organization. The toll is expected to double to about 300,000 lives and 11 million years of healthy life by 2020.
The article is also summarized in picture form! (Pretty terrifying, isn’t it?)
It was clear to me and other members of our coalition that this was a courageous move by the Air Board. They are going to take hits from both sides of the debate, neither of which got what they wanted. As Kathy Selvage said,
