"Climate Change, Health and Faith", by Dr Graham McAll

"Climate Change, Health and Faith – Calling Christians in Medicine" conference - Selangor, Malaysia, 18 July 2009 (41 minutes)

In this talk, Dr McAll explains why “Climate change is the biggest global threat to health in this century”. He points out that the impact of climate change is falling disproportionately on developing countries, and poor persons within all countries.  A poignant comparison is made between two similar-sized storms in 2008:  Hurricane Ike which reached land at Galveston, Texas, and Cyclone Nargis which devastated Myanmar.  194 people died in the wealthier country, but in Myanmar, there were 140,000 deaths and 2.5 million people lost their homes. 

In the second part of his talk, Dr McAll presents the health consequences through issues such as water, food, air pollution, vector-borne diseases and infections, allergies and the possibility of new diseases. He challenges Christians to consider “who am I being a neighbour to” by the way we live, and urges those in healthcare to be the bridge between science and humanity by providing a trusted voice on the implications of climate change.

To listen, please click the play button above, or download the talk by clicking the down-arrow and selecting 'Save As Source ...'.

Related links:

• Video - "A Rocha in Asia: Graham McAll on the medical community and climate change" (1:22 minutes)