Climate change is here, and it’s already killing Americans, according to The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, a report by a team of scientists and public health experts. Here’s what they said and how sustainable fuels can help.
“Heat-related mortality for older people in the US has almost doubled in the past two decades, reaching a record high of 19,000 deaths in 2018,” explains Global Citizen, reporting on the findings.
“Besides extreme heat, the public health experts also identified wildfires and air pollution as immediate dangers to Americans,” continues Global Citizen.
These findings aren’t surprising.Harvard and the University of Cambridge found air pollution increases the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19.
What’s the cause? “Climate change and air pollution have the same root cause—the burning of fossil fuels,” said Renee Salas, a lead author of the report and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
So we must move away from fossil fuels, says the report, to low-carbon and zero-carbon options including transportation fuels such as sustainable aviation fuels and renewable diesel, which produces “between 50 and 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional diesel,” reports The New York Times.
Sustainable fuels made from renewable resources and waste are a critical element of solving our climate and economic crises. We can't rely on electric vehicles alone and need solutions that can be deployed across all forms of transportation—from air to land and sea.
Learn more about sustainable fuels, including sustainable aviation fuels.
And stay tuned—later this week, we’ll take a look at what the report said about sustainable agriculture practices and why we need gene editing.
