The Advertiser
By: Laura Anderson, Canberra
Australians are facing "enormous'' health risks as a result of climate change, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has warned.
Senator Wong said climate change had increased the incidence of infectious diseases, bushfire-related injuries and heat-related deaths and illnesses.
"By 2020, for example, the number of heat-related deaths in our capital cities is projected to double to about 2300 a year,'' she said.
"We are likely to see more food-safety related illness; and dengue fever is likely to spread southwards.''
Responding to these concerns, the Federal Government today will announce a $10 million study entitled Human Health and Climate Change.
The study will be conducted by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, National Health and Medical Research Council and the CSIRO.
"We need to better understand the diversity of these health risks, who will be most vulnerable, and the action governments, individuals and communities can take to reduce the risks,'' Senator Wong said.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change experts warned in their 2007 report that the biggest risk to human health was a rise in heat-related deaths. These deaths were predicted to rise from 1115 each year in Australia's capital cities to 2300-2500 by 2020.
The experts also warned of a higher incidence of mosquito-borne infectious diseases and an increase in food-borne and water-borne diseases.
Senator Wong will release the research plan today in Cairns.