Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Northern health will suffer from climate change, doctor says
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/06/19/climate-health.html
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/06/19/climate-health.html
Climate change is the biggest threat to the health of people living in northern regions, the co-chair of the International Conference on Circumpolar Health held in Siberia this month says.
Warmer temperatures are having a big impact on northern people and their communities, says Dr. Neil Murphy, who works for the International Union for Circumpolar Health in Alaska.
"The main change that we've seen so far is in the change in the migration of the food sources for many of our native peoples," said Murphy. "They have to go farther from their current villages. There's either no animals to harvest or they are very scarce."
Erosion and melting permafrost mean "homes have been falling out from underneath our native people," he said.
Infectious diseases and new species are also expected to work their way north, said Murphy.
"We've seen infectious diseases that used to be completely limited to the southern area of the world now have crept up. West Nile virus is one great example."
The regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations in the Northwest Territories, Bill Erasmus, says he's never seen it as warm as it's been this year. The ice is not safe and the caribou are skinny, he says.
Erasmus is also concerned about the rise of new illnesses. "I remember my grandma, when I was little, she was happy when it got really cold," said Erasmus. "When it was 40 below, she said, 'Good, that'll kill the bugs, kill the germs.'"
Erasmus and Murphy are both looking forward to International Polar Year, which kicks off in 2007, which is intended to help northern people adapt to their changing world.
Warmer temperatures are having a big impact on northern people and their communities, says Dr. Neil Murphy, who works for the International Union for Circumpolar Health in Alaska.
"The main change that we've seen so far is in the change in the migration of the food sources for many of our native peoples," said Murphy. "They have to go farther from their current villages. There's either no animals to harvest or they are very scarce."
Erosion and melting permafrost mean "homes have been falling out from underneath our native people," he said.
Infectious diseases and new species are also expected to work their way north, said Murphy.
"We've seen infectious diseases that used to be completely limited to the southern area of the world now have crept up. West Nile virus is one great example."
The regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations in the Northwest Territories, Bill Erasmus, says he's never seen it as warm as it's been this year. The ice is not safe and the caribou are skinny, he says.
Erasmus is also concerned about the rise of new illnesses. "I remember my grandma, when I was little, she was happy when it got really cold," said Erasmus. "When it was 40 below, she said, 'Good, that'll kill the bugs, kill the germs.'"
Erasmus and Murphy are both looking forward to International Polar Year, which kicks off in 2007, which is intended to help northern people adapt to their changing world.