Doctor clinically diagnosed BC woman with ‘climate change’

This woman is the first medical case of climate change in the world. According to BC doctors, the poor air quality and heatwaves were responsible for her condition. The woman was in her seventies.

This decision comes in the wake of comments made by the head of the emergency department in Nelson, BC who said that conditions triggered by smoke and heat amount to suffering from climate change.

Hundreds of people across the province have died over the summer from heatwaves and wildfires in Canada's most western province. One heatwave in June was the hottest in Canadian history.

"If we're not looking at the underlying cause, and we're just treating the symptoms, we're just gonna keep falling further and further behind," said one doctor.

"We're in the emergency department, we look after everybody, from the most privileged to the most vulnerable, from cradle to grave, we see everybody. And it's hard to see people, especially the most vulnerable people in our society, being affected," he added.

As a consequence of the staggering number and illnesses relating to the extreme BC heat, doctors are petitioning municipal governments in the province to declare a national emergency.