CDC's abrupt postponement of the health and climate change conference and its effects is going to take place after all as Al Gore swoops in to put it back on track. However, this time, it will be without the participation of its original sponsor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Gore reportedly phoned the executive director that runs the conference and said, “Let’s make this thing happen.”
The executive director of the American Public Health Assn., Georges Benjamin, said that the former vice president called him up after the news about the conference's postponement broke. There was no official announcement of its cancellation, but participants of the conference received word that the conference would not take place as scheduled following Trump's inauguration . The agency quietly postponed the conference and never gave a reason for the change in plan.
Now, Al Gore and other non-governmental groups are putting the conference back on track saying that the evidence on climate change clearly shows that is a major threat facing the public’s health. “Openly discussing these scientific issues will help us prepare for this looming challenge and better protect the American people,” Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, Dr. Ashish Jha adds. Al Gore also commented that problems of climate change should not be a political issue, the Los Angeles Times says.
Experts cite the proliferation of the Zika virus as one of the detrimental effects of climate change in year 2016 as it was the third consecutive hottest year on record. According to the Ars Technica, the conference was originally set to take place for three days from Feb. 14-16 in Atlanta. However, due to limited time frame of the event, Al Gore and company have reduced the conference to a one day meeting on Feb. 16.
