Calculating the Carbon Cost in Critical Care: A Global View from an Intensive Care Window

Abstract

The #x201C;Global Climate Change and Children#x2019;s Health#x201D; is a technical report and policy statement (1), that outlines the specific ways global climate change impacts child health, and calls on health practitioners to understand the threats, anticipate the impact on health, and advocate for strategies that will lessen the effects. A carbon footprint is defined as: The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is often understood as in the following examples: Each of the following activities adds 1 kg of CO2 to carbon footprint:- #x2022; Travel by public transportation (train or bus) a distance of 10 to 12 km #x2022; Drive by car a distance of 6 km (assuming 7.3 litres petrol per 100 km ) #x2022; Fly with a plane a distance of 2.2 km #x2022; Operate a computer for 32 hours (60 Watt consumption assumed) #x2022; Production of 5 plastic bags/ 2 plastic bottles/ one third of an American cheeseburger ( the production of each cheeseburger emits 3.1 kg of CO2!)