By TANEKA THOMPSON Guardian Senior Reporter

Copyright thenassauguardian

A new report has found that fossil fuels harm humans throughout their lives — from the womb until death — and are driving climate change as well as declining public health around the world.

The report, “Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition”, was released yesterday by Global Climate and Health Alliance.

The group said the report “provides the first comprehensive global overview of the health consequences associated with fossil fuel use at every stage of their lifecycle, from extraction to waste, and across the human lifespan, from pregnancy and pre-birth to old age.”

Fossil fuels are a “direct assault on health”, the report’s author Shweta Narayan said in a press release, adding that they contribute to miscarriages, childhood leukemia, asthma, cancer, strokes and mental health problems.

“Fossil fuels’ toxic legacy persists for decades in our air, water, and bodies, exposing communities throughout the world, and imposing an especially heavy burden on marginalized communities,” Narayan said.

“Even if carbon emissions were captured tomorrow, fossil fuels would still poison, displace, and destabilize. Not only are they a climate problem, fossil fuels are driving a global public health emergency.”

Narayan is campaign lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance, a consortium of more than 200 health professional and health civil society organizations and networks from around the world addressing climate change.

According to the report, fossil fuels are damaging to humans at every stage of production — from extraction, refining, transport, storage, combustion, and disposal — placing “harmful pollutants” into the environment, many of which are long-lasting and build up in human tissue over time.

Exposure to fossil fuel pollution “has been linked to increased risk of low birth weight, childhood cancer, asthma, neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, and premature death,” the report noted.

“For instance, during the prenatal period, when vital organs are forming, exposure to pollutants from coal, oil, and gas extraction and combustion is linked to low birth weight, preterm birth, miscarriage and a range of congenital abnormalities.”

Many of these problems are permanent, the report said, and affect a child for the rest of their life.

Fossil fuel pollutants are also connected to other health issues, the report said.

“They impair lung function and exacerbate asthma and other respiratory diseases; increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and hospitalizations; disrupt cognitive function and mental health through impacts on the brain and nervous system; elevate the risk of cancers such as leukemia; cause reproductive damage; and contribute to premature mortality,” the report said.

“Older adults face unique vulnerabilities due to declining organ function, pre-existing chronic diseases, and cumulative exposure.”

Climate woes

Fossil fuels are the “primary source of greenhouse gas emissions”, which are driving the Earth’s climate crisis, the report pointed out.

“This crisis presents a growing number of risks to human health,” the report noted. “In many cases, the health harms caused by fossil fuels and the climate impacts they generate are not separate — they interact and reinforce one another, creating a compounding threat.”

Climate change driven by fossil fuels creates a “compounding crisis”, the report

Warmer temperatures make air pollution worse, which can increase respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Wildfire smoke and fossil fuel emissions can combine, forcing air pollution to “hazardous levels”, the report said, while extreme heat can interfere with a person’s ability to work, cause heat exhaustion, heat stroke and can worsen many chronic diseases.

Communities most likely to be harmed from fossil fuels include people who work with or close to the products, the report said. People in this category have an “elevated risk” of developing cancer.

Marginalized groups — such as racial minorities or low-income groups who may have limited access to healthcare, other job opportunities, safe relocation options and clean technology — “bear the brunt” of pollution, the report said.

The report’s authors have called for an end to new fossil fuel exploration and development, saying this is essential for meeting global climate targets, particularly the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement.

They also want an end to fossil fuel subsidies, saying the money saved should be redirected to renewable energy and pollution mitigation.

The report also called for the cleanup of existing fossil fuel production and said polluters should bear the cost born from environmental harms instead of allowing fossil fuel companies to “profit without accountability”.

The report called for a “rapid” and “just” transition to clean, renewable energy.