豪シドニーを覆う有毒煙、「公衆衛生における緊急事態」　医師ら警鐘

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア最大の都市シドニーが数週間にわたって森林火災の煙に覆われており、医師らが16日、「公衆衛生における緊急事態」に直面していると警鐘を鳴らした。（写真はオーストラリア・シドニー北方90～100キロに位置するセントラルコーストのスペンサーを覆う森林火災の煙）
　一連の火災でこれまでに６人が死亡、住宅７００棟以上が焼かれ、少なくとも３００万ヘクタールが延焼している。複数の病院で、救急外来の利用者数の劇的な増加が報告されている。
　この数か月、同国各地では温暖化が拍車を掛けている数百件の森林火災が発生し続けている。シドニー北部では「メガ火災」と呼ばれる大規模な火事が複数の家屋を一晩で焼き尽くした。南西部パースで起きた火災は市街地に近づきつつある。
　医師や研修医ら計２万５０００人を擁する王立オーストラレーシアン医科大学を含む２０以上の医療団体からなる「クライメイト・アンド・ヘルス・アライアンス」は１６日、同国政府に対し有害な大気汚染に対処するよう求める共同声明を発表した。
　環境問題に対する政策を求める医療関係者らでつくる同団体は「ニューサウスウェールズ州の大気汚染は公衆衛生における緊急事態」だと訴えた。また同州の複数の場所では、森林火災により「『有害』とされる基準値の最大１１倍」の大気汚染が起きており、森林火災の煙は「微小粒子状物質ＰＭ２．５の濃度が高く特に危険だ」と指摘した。
　さらに同団体は、温暖化は森林火災を悪化させ「人間の健康に計り知れない影響」を及ぼしているとして、政府に対し二酸化炭素（ＣＯ２）排出量の削減に向けた緊急対策を講じるよう要求した。
　ニューサウスウェールズ州の保健当局は、１２月１１日までの１週間に呼吸器疾患で救急外来を訪れた患者数は、過去５年の平均値より４８％増加したと発表。シドニーの大気状態が急激に悪化した１０日には、外来患者数は８０％増を記録した。翌日には、最大２万人の市民が大気汚染に抗議するデモ行進に参加した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/17-10:58）

Australia's biggest city is facing a public health emergency over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned Monday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits.
Hundreds of climate change-fuelled bushfires have been raging across Australia for months, with a mega-blaze burning north of Sydney destroying several homes overnight and fires near Perth threatening towns.
More than 20 medical groups including the Royal Australasian College of Physicians -- which represents 25,000 doctors and trainees -- released a joint statement Monday calling on Australia's government to address the toxic air pollution.
The air pollution in NSW is a public health emergency, the Climate and Health Alliance said.
Smoke from bushfires has produced air pollution of up to 11 times the base 'hazardous' level in parts of Sydney and New South Wales.
Bushfire smoke is particularly hazardous because of the high levels of tiny particles (PM2.5).
The New South Wales state health department said it recorded a 48 percent increase in the number of people visiting hospital emergency rooms with respiratory problems in the week ending December 11 compared to the five-year average.
Visits spiked 80 percent on December 10, when air quality plummeted across Sydney prompting up to 20,000 residents of Australia's biggest city to march in protest the following day.
The Climate and Health Alliance called on the government to take urgent action to curb emissions, saying climate change is worsening bushfires that are having devastating impacts on human health.
The air pollution events resulting from bushfires will become more and more frequent and are a result of climate change, it said.
Our governments must act quickly to rapidly and deeply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which we know are driving climate change.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week made a rare admission that climate change is one of the factors behind the fires, but defended Australia's record on emissions reduction and failed to announce further measures to address the issue.
Six people have been killed, more than 700 houses destroyed and at least three million hectares (7.4 million acres) of land burned this bushfire season.
The devastating fires have focused attention on climate change, with scientists saying the blazes have come earlier and with more intensity than usual due to global warming and a prolonged drought that has also caused towns to run out of drinking water and forced farmers off their land.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Monday singled out bushfires and drought as the biggest domestic challenges for the economy, telling reporters in Canberra the dry spell had taken a quarter of a percentage point off GDP growth and reduced farm output by a significant amount over the past two years.
Official data shows 2019 is on track to be one of the hottest and driest years on record in Australia, with the country set to experience a heatwave this week that forecasters predict will break temperature records.