Climate change is killing people, but there's still time to reverse the damage

Some ecosystems have already been irreversibly altered, scientists say. And climate change is wreaking havoc on human health.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Billions of people around the world - billions - are already suffering because of climate change. That's according to a report by the United Nations, which says that heat waves, floods, wildfires and other effects of global warming are occurring more quickly than expected in many parts of the world. And that does include our own continent, North America. Rebecca Hersher from the NPR climate team is with us. Good morning.

REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE: Good morning.

INSKEEP: What is the evidence showing that change?

HERSHER: So the evidence is all around us. It's the storms, the heat waves, the outbreaks that we've all been living through over the last decade. And this report - it's based on thousands of studies reviewed by hundreds of top scientists. What they found is that the science is really clear. You know, climate change is causing more severe weather disasters and disease outbreaks. And the report finds that governments are not doing enough right now to protect people from global warming or to slow it down.

INSKEEP: Can we just talk about the extent of the effects here? I mean, we're aware when there's a wildfire in the West, people's homes are destroyed. People are forced to flee. But this report also discusses the way that climate change can affect the health of individuals. How would that be?

HERSHER: Yeah. So the report says that climate change is, as you said, making people sick. And in many cases, it's killing people. So, for example, climate change is dangerous for pregnant women. This is the first time that a report like this has acknowledged that connection. Wildfire smoke makes respiratory disease worse. There are mental health effects. You know, living through a disaster can cause long-term anguish. And then there's the really big one, which is heat. Heat waves are so dangerous. And the authors of this report returned to that point again and again. And I spoke with Juan Declet-Barreto of the Union of Concerned Scientists about how this is playing out here in the U.S. And he told me that heat is the country's No. 1 weather-related killer.

JUAN DECLET-BARRETO: The effects of extreme heat aren't often visible, which is something that makes people forget about them. But they are dangerous, precisely also more dangerous because of that, because of that relative invisibility.

HERSHER: So one thing this report is trying to do is make heat waves a little less invisible and really raise the alarm.

INSKEEP: Well, what can governments do? And I suppose I should phrase this in the proper way. Obviously, governments - some of them, anyway - are talking about changing energy production in a way that could possibly mitigate climate change 20 years from now. But what can governments do about people now?

HERSHER: Well, it's important to say first that this is a scientific report. It does not recommend specific policies. But the science points to two big things that governments can do - things they must do to avoid more suffering. The first thing is to help people adapt to the hotter world we're living in. You know, heat waves, for example - heat deaths are entirely preventable. Right now, some of the most vulnerable people don't have access, though, to cool spaces or time off work when it's dangerously hot, things like that. That is why people die. And the second thing, as you said, is reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

INSKEEP: How quickly do the scientists think we need to do that now?

HERSHER: Extremely quickly. So scientists estimate that emissions would need to be cut in half in the next decade or so. And humans would basically need to stop putting extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2050. But that's only half of it. So forests and tundra and oceans and grasslands - they all suck up carbon dioxide, usually. But we've degraded those ecosystems, made them hot, allowed them to burn and thaw, which means they're soaking up less carbon dioxide. And sometimes, they're even emitting extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So this report says, basically, knock that off. If humans want to avoid catastrophic warming in the coming decades, we need to repair and protect those ecosystems right now.

INSKEEP: Rebecca, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

HERSHER: Thanks so much.

INSKEEP: Rebecca Hersher is with NPR's climate team.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAFAEL OSMO'S "THE MOOD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.