The climate crisis appeared earlier than scientists had initially predicted and its effects on the economy, society and health are already visible.

Tropical diseases (Zika, dengue) are coming to Europe as rising temperatures push potentially disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes and ticks north. The World Health Organization considers climate change to be the greatest health threat facing humanity.

Phenomena like high temperatures, drought, floods, fires we will see and experience them more and more often and in “every disaster we will see effects that we can’t even imagine”, he said Professor Efthymios Lekkas, Professor of Dynamic Tectonics, Applied Geology and Natural Disaster Management EKPA, speaking at the Conference organized by the Athens Medical Association, on the topic “Modern challenges of the medical professional”, in the context of the celebrations for its 100 years of operation.

In the climate crisis and Health section, Mr. Lekkas mentioned that initially the scientific community had estimated that the climate crisis would come in 2050-2060. In 2015, however, scientists revised this view and expressed the opinion that it will come sooner, around 2040-2045, however, since 2017 we have been experiencing the signs of this crisis. “And these signs are particularly worrying, not only because they will have enormous effects on the economy, society, the environment, but also on health,” said the Professor.

Referred to in extreme phenomena in Greecesaid that the climate crisis is actually fully documented by the two phenomena that occurred in Thessaly with Janos and Daniel.

“Janus was first a flood of 1000 years and we thought we were the unlucky ones of the millennium and then within 3 years came Daniel we also had a flood of over 1000 years.”

In other words, added the Professor, we have two 1000-year events within 3 years and this is the absolute documentation of the climate crisis which is setting in motion phenomena that are also very important for the field of health.

Mr. Lekkas explained that the first element is thei increased temperatures and drought, that set off forest fires with tragic effects on the environment and the atmosphere.

Forest fires, he continued, set off flooding phenomena accompanied by landslides, and all these make up a cycle, which begins and turns with greater speed, and these events repeat themselves one after another.

Therefore, they are phenomena that have effects in many areas but mainly have effects on humans with huge losses, as well as on health.

In support of the above, Mr. Lekkas referred to the great earthquake in Turkey a year and a half ago with thousands of dead and injured. The environmental footprint was enormous because huge volumes were collected which were deposited as in areas where they should not have been and these are truly “environmental bombs”.

He came to the alarming conclusion: “What we see now is that in every disaster we are dealing with new effects that we don’t even imagine.”

The field of Medicine in the emerging and developing climate crisis is very important and very interesting, said Mr. Lekkas.

Afterwards, Stelios Loukidis, Professor of Pulmonology at EKPA School of Medicine, Vasiliki Nikolaou, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, EKPA, Maria Peukianaki, Ophthalmologist specializing in Ophthalmic Oncology, and Dimitris Tousoulis, Emeritus Professor of Cardiology, EKPA, took the floor.

They talked about the effects of climate change on the respiratory system, the skin, the eyes and the cardiovascular system.

A common finding was that environmental change has many and serious effects on various systems of our organization and its effects are already evident.

Mortality and morbidity during elevated temperatures is much higher. Fires have effects on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

The skin, as the “first fence” that comes into contact with the environment, is directly affected. “When we have a change in environmental factors, we will have effects on the skin and the first disease is skin cancer, and worldwide we have a great increase”, said Mrs. Nikolaou.

Mr Loukidis referred to the example of Melbourne, to show the magnitude of the impact on health of environmental changes. When there was increased rainfall and flooding in Melbourne in 2018 and 2021, there was a large increase in people with viral infections visiting health facilities.

He noted that the climate crisis affects us all, but the socially and economically weaker are affected the most, as they were more exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

The effects of the climate crisis mainly affect populations with chronic diseases, but also populations that do not have access to health services, said the Professor, which is why he concluded that interventions should not only be medical but also social.