Australian Medical Association declares climate change a health emergency

Warmists have been pushing this claim for years but it was always nonsense.  The bottom line is that winter is the great time of dying, not summer.  On balance, warming is good for you

 AMA president Tony Bartone says climate change will affect health by increasing the spread of infectious diseases and through more extreme weather. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
The Australian Medical Association has formally declared climate change a health emergency, pointing to “clear scientific evidence indicating severe impacts for our patients and communities now and into the future”.

The AMA’s landmark shift, delivered by a motion of the body’s federal council, brings the organisation into line with forward-leaning positions taken by the American Medical Association, the British Medical Association and Doctors for the Environment Australia.

The American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians recognised climate change as a health emergency in June 2019, and the British Medical Association the following month declared a climate emergency and committed to campaign for carbon neutrality by 2030.

The World Health Organisation has recognised since 2015 that climate change is the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century, and argued the scientific evidence for that assessment is “overwhelming”.

The AMA has recognised the health risks of climate change since 2004. Having now formally recognised that climate change is a health emergency, the peak organisation representing doctors in Australia is calling on the Morrison government to promote an active transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy; adopt mitigation targets within an Australian carbon budget; promote the health benefits of addressing climate change; and develop a national strategy for health and climate change.

The AMA president, Tony Bartone, argues the scientific evidence is clear. “There is no doubt that climate change is a health emergency. The AMA accepts the scientific evidence on climate change and its impact on human health and human wellbeing,” he says.

Bartone says the climate science suggests warming will affect human health and wellbeing “by increasing the environment and situations in which infectious diseases can be transmitted, and through more extreme weather events, particularly heatwaves”.

“Climate change will cause higher mortality and morbidity from heat stress,” the AMA president says. “Climate change will cause injury and mortality from increasingly severe weather events. Climate change will cause increases in the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Climate change will cause food insecurity resulting from declines in agricultural outputs. Climate change will cause a higher incidence of mental ill-health.

“These effects are already being observed internationally and in Australia.”

Bartone told Guardian Australia the motion adopted by the federal council had followed an ongoing discussion among stakeholders, and medical practitioners within the AMA membership.

Health and medical groups, including Doctors for the Environment, the Climate and Health Alliance, the Royal Australian College of Physicians, and the Australian Medical Students’ Association wrote an open letter to all political parties in April pointing out the “significant and profound impacts climate change has on the health of people and our health system”.

The AMA president said the decision to pass the motion followed on from those events both domestically and internationally, and was “pretty much unanimous” internally. “I don’t recall anyone speaking against it,” he said.

Asked whether the current government was pursuing ambitious enough policy action to combat the risks of climate change, whichthe Morrison government argues it is, Bartone said “it’s really difficult to say because this issue is clouded in conjecture and conflicting reports”.

He said all of the political groups in the Australian parliament had a responsibility to move past the toxic partisan politics that had characterised the debate and find durable solutions to a difficult public policy challenge.

Bartone said the AMA would continue to assess the evidence about climate change as it emerged and update its stance to reflect the science.

The latest official data released last week confirms that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise in Australia. National emissions increased by 3.1m tonnes in the year to March to reach 538.9m tonnes, a 0.6% jump on the previous year.

Emissions in Australia have increased every year since the Abbott government repealed a national carbon price after taking office in 2013.

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Father's Day no longer promoted in some schools

The Father's Day stall and gifts for Dad crafted by little hands are increasingly a thing of the past in some Melbourne schools and kindergartens.

The growing diversity in the forms that families take, and a lack of interest in the occasion from kids themselves, have seen it pass without a mention in many classes this year.

Some kids have two mums, some have no dad and some are from cultures where Father’s Day isn’t really a thing.

Annie Dennis Children’s Centre in Northcote recognises the diversity in children’s family situations. For the past 20 years, child-guided programs have formed a fundamental part of its philosophy.

Assistant director Anna Chiera said they did not celebrate Father’s Day this year because kids simply weren’t interested.

“We don’t bring up Father’s Day because there are children with single and same-sex parents here, but if it’s an issue for them, we encourage them to let us know,” Ms Chiera said.

“We don’t like to put pressure on the children to make a present if it isn’t going to mean something and they don’t have a father or their families don’t celebrate it.”

“We acknowledge that it’s an important celebration though.”

Helen Darcey, a kindergarten teacher at Annie Dennis, said the centre had a list of celebrations from different religions and cultures they encouraged kids to learn about and contribute to.

In the past they’ve celebrated everything from Orthodox Easter to Harmony Day, but typically not Father’s Day.

Ms Chiera conceded they did get the occasional parent who asked why they didn't make a card, but for the most part they were supportive.

“It’s sometimes harder for the wider community to accept it especially,” Ms Chiera said.

An objection to the commercialisation of Father’s Day – a day of socks, jocks and power tools – has also contributed to it falling out of favour.

Australian Primary Principals Association president Malcolm Elliott said Father’s and Mother’s Day had been linked to the “implicit buying of gifts” thanks to advertising.

“It can place a burden on children who are short on resources,” Mr Elliot said.

But not all Melbourne kinders and primary schools have completely ditched Father’s Day festivities.

Carlton North Primary School ran things a bit differently, with a Father’s Day stall organised by parents selling gifts donated from families for students to buy their dads or other special people.

A grade one pupil bought her dad, a teacher at the school, a hamper filled with chocolate and socks. “I got him new socks because his ones are very stinky,” she said.

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Petty officer Kristina Keneally is all at sea on illegal boat arrivals

Kristina Keneally is all at sea on illegal boat arrivals and lost in the Biblical wilderness on raising Scott Morrison’s Christian beliefs.

What’s more, as the alternative home affairs minister, the former NSW Premier is opening the prospect of immigration and border protection changes of policy and practice which could further confuse and damage Labor’s public standing on immigration.

Also, at a time when Labor’s strongest critique of the Morrison government is the stagnant economy and Labor’s best-performing shadow minister is treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers, Keneally’s emotional distraction over the Prime Minister’s Christianity and a family being refused refugee status by the High Court is making the ALP’s job harder.

Keneally’s decision to press ahead and amplify her campaign for the Tamil family to remain in Australia on the ABC on Tuesday was bad politics and bad policy.

While pointing to her own Catholic faith, Keneally harked back to the election campaign and photographs of Morrison in his local church as justification for demanding he exercise his Christian beliefs and use discretionary power to allow the Tamil family to remain.

It was a low act and a mistake for Labor — including Keneally — to use Morrison’s Christian beliefs in a political fight then. It is a lower act and a bigger mistake to do it now as religious freedoms and discrimination will be debated in the coming weeks.

The real damage Keneally’s confusion and downright ignorance about immigration and border protection is that she has raised the option that as home affairs minister she would be open to letting the family stay after every court has found they are not refugees.

This continues to raise the prospect that Labor would change border protection policy, despite her contradictory claims that she supports border security policies based on the circumstances of prolonged court battles, attachment to the community and Australian-born children.

Previous Labor governments, immigration ministers and oppositions have all recognised the error of Labor’s ways in weakening laws introduced by both previous Labor and Coalition governments and accepted that children drowning at sea is a greater evil than sending back children who are not refugees.

The real problem for this family is that the parents arrived illegally, were placed in detention by a Labor government, were encouraged to appeal for years despite being advised they were not refugees and then being hauled into a glaring public political brawl which ensured there could be no discretion applied even if it was sustainable.

All of this is taking place a week before the government starts to finalise its reforms to border security laws — forced on it by Labor, Greens and independents before the election — and ahead of a tough parliamentary debate where Keneally’s confusion could be lethal.

Not to mention poor old Chalmers trying to talk about the real issue of the economy, wages growth, interest rates and the national accounts.

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The incorrectness of attractive women

Boxing promoter Dean Lonergan has reacted to concern about the presence of ring girls at Saturday night's fight between Jeff Horn and Michael Zerafa by replacing them with men.

A local councillor objected to the planned use of ring girls at the event in Bendigo, saying it was "not respectful of women."

Lonergan responded by saying the women had applied for and been given the job, but were now being prevented from working.

The promoter said he would be employing "fight progress managers" in the role instead.

Come fight night, various men stepped in to the ring to hold the round cards, with announcer Dan Hennessey discussing the change with the fans in Bendigo.

"In reference to rings girls, these roles will now be known as 'fight progress managers'," Hennessey said.

"Secondly, the women who applied and were selected to be fight progress managers will be replaced by men, notwithstanding, the three ladies have been paid."

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 Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here