Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Man contributing to Global Warming
Researchers in Britain have determined that the more people weigh, the more they contribute to global warming. A study by Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology and Population Health has determined that the human population’s growing waistline over the past 30 years has helped expand the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The correlation between weight and global warming is in food production, a major contributor to carbon dioxide and other emissions, as well as the growing amount of fossil fuel that’s burned to transport heavier populations.
Edwards and Roberts, who published their findings, “Population adiposity and climate change,” in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that in nearly every country in the world, the average body mass index (BMI) is rising. Between 1994 and 2004 the average male BMI in England increased from 26 to 27.3, with the average female BMI rising from 25.8 to 26.9. According to the authors’ calculations, the world’s overweight population of one billion people is responsible for about an extra 2.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
“When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler” said the authors in a prepared statement. “The heavier our bodies become the harder and more unpleasant it is to move about in them and the more dependent we become on our cars. Staying slim is good for health and for the environment.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
1970s Lifestyle 'Protects Planet' (BBC News)
Keeping Slim is Good for the Planet, Say Scientists (press release)
Population Adiposity and Climate Change (by Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts, International Journal of Epidemiology)
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