As a physician who spent 6 months working on a pediatric malnutrition project in Djibouti in 2010 and who now lives in Yellowknife, NWT, which is already 2 degrees warmer than it was 50 years ago,1 I am acutely aware of the effects of our changing climate. As an emergency doctor, I am also very familiar with the concept of time windows — and the consequences of missing them. With the International Energy Agency telling us that we have a maximum of 5 years to start decreasing emissions,2 I would argue that this situation is comparable to a ST segment elevation myocardial infarction or to sepsis. We either get the job done in the next decade or so or we prepare for palliative care. As Sibbald mentioned in her editorial,2 our profession has not even begun to bring its powers to bear on the issue. We must start advocating at local, provincial, national and international levels to reframe climate change from its current perception as a political issue to what it truly is: a health issue. We must approach climate change in the same way we approach other critical medical issues (i.e., we push hard, we push fast and we don’t stop).
I came across Sibbald’s editorial1 in my email one morning while I was writing a grant proposal regarding an interactive website on the health effects of climate change. I had been communicating with film-makers and website developers to determine what they could contribute to the project. Such work has been somewhat lonely given the general lack of awareness of this issue amongst the Canadian medical community. The editorial by Sibbald3 buoyed my spirits. Thank you.