Impact of Anesthesia on Climate Change
- Author Chandrasekhar Krishnamurti
- Co-Author Salehe Mrutu
- DOI https://ww
- Country : India
- Subject :
Keywords : Anesthesia, climate, global warming, greenhouse gases, CO2
Abstract
The phenomenal growth of the healthcare sector has created an industry responsible for a significant part of global environmental pollution. Reduction of the environmental footprint from energy consumption can be achieved by decarbonizing our economy in three ways (‘the trias energetica’), i.e., minimizing energy consumption, generating sustainable energy, and using fossil fuels efficiently.
We confront a state of planetary emergency because GHG emissions and global warming/climate change contribute to one-quarter of all deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization considers climate change as the greatest threat to global health.
Anaesthesia providers must minimize the environmental impact of their clinical practice and anesthesiologists need to be concerned about reducing their carbon footprint. They must address the 3% carbon footprint from direct emissions of anesthetic gases, 25% from single-use consumables, 20% from energy generation, and 10% from upstream activities from pharmaceutical suppliers, and downstream distribution activities like supply chain management and waste processing.
The 5 Rs mantra of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink, and Research will reduce the environmental impact of anesthesiology, which will also reduce costs. These must be overseen by a lead individual for sustainability in the department of anaesthesia who will use measurement tools to determine their department's annual carbon footprint and also prioritise the teaching of environmentally sustainable anaesthetic techniques.
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