The climate emergency IS a health emergency and it’s about time we started treating it as one.

by Dr Karine Knor In 2019, supported by all Parties,  the Government declared ‘a climate and ecological ’emergency’. But any ‘emergency’ response has been woefully inadequate.  When we compare this to the time of the Covid pandemic, also declared as a public health emergency, a year later,  and we remember the Prime Minister’s recurrent ‘addressContinueContinue reading “The climate emergency IS a health emergency and it’s about time we started treating it as one.”

Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition

by Dr Karine Nohr Whilst practising as a doctor, the imperative to provide evidence for any intervention was always forefront.  So it was with great interest that the report just published by the Global Health and Climate Alliance on the Health Consequences of fossil fuels laid bare, with overwhelming evidence, what many of us alreadyContinueContinue reading “Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition”

Toxic historic landfill sites are not being monitored, and many are in flood risk areas.

In May I wrote about the dangers of old landfill sites now that flooding is happening more regularly as a result of climate change. Cllr Joe Otten who is chair of the Sheffield Council Waste Committee promised a reply but I am still waiting. I have now received a long reply from the Environment Agency.ContinueContinue reading “Toxic historic landfill sites are not being monitored, and many are in flood risk areas.”

Plastic is polluting our bodies

A guest blog by Karine Nohr I have written about plastics in this column before, and I thought that I knew quite a lot about the dangers of plastic pollution, but a recent interview that I listened to, with Gynaecologist Dr Jane van Dis, brought me up short.  In my early medical career, I tooContinueContinue reading “Plastic is polluting our bodies”

Plastic-wrapped food? Not if I have a choice!

A guest blog by Karine Nohr Previously, food could not be stored for long periods and so was available only at harvesting times. It was eaten fresh and seasonally, with limited use of preserving methods, such as bottling, fermenting or drying. But now, food preservation includes chemical processing, preservatives and packaging. The development of plastics,ContinueContinue reading “Plastic-wrapped food? Not if I have a choice!”