Climate Change is the Biggest Health Innovation Opportunity of Our Times
There are viable approaches to save millions of lives and trillions of dollars
If you’re looking to make a meaningful dent in the universe, few opportunities loom as large as addressing the root causes of climate change. That’s the case even if you don’t believe we’re facing a climate crisis—and more so if you do.
This point was brought home to me recently by Dr. Jonathan Patz, a panelist in a discussion with the senior management of the American Medical Association (AMA) on the health implications of climate change. Dr. Modena Wilson, Health and Science Officer Emerita of the AMA and one of the session’s organizers, has described climate change as “the mother of all threats to human health.” As the discussion moderator, I pressed Patz on what he viewed as worse case health-related scenarios. But he would have none of that.
Patz certainly has the deep expertise to answer to my question. In addition to being a physician, he is director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin and, for 15 years, was a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC) — the organization that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for their work on climate change.
