Global warming ‘should be linked to health risks’

THE impacts of climate change on health are a “very real and present danger”, British health secretary Andy Burnham warned yesterday at the launch of a report on how rising temperatures will affect the public.

The study, published ahead of next month’s UN talks on tackling climate change, is calling on health ministers and professionals around the world to recognise the danger global warming poses to health.

But putting health at the centre of action on climate change could deliver twin benefits of preventing illness and cutting emissions, the report from the Lancet said.