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Leading doctors from around the world are urging international leaders to agree to sharpen greenhouse gas emissions cuts as part of the U.N. Climate Summit in order to avert a “global health catastrophe.”

Aside from providing a frightening warning from respected voices in the medical community, the two new reports could help motivate the United States to tackle the upcoming climate talks more quickly since the issue is now tied to the health care debate, currently stalling the action. According to an editorial published in the British Medical Journal and The Lancet this week:

The measures needed to combat climate change coincide with those needed to ensure a healthier population and reduce the burden on health services. A low carbon economy will mean less pollution.

It remains to be seen whether that will actually spur the U.S. into action, but nonetheless the dire predictions should help move the talks along.  Words of caution also came from a separate report drafted by a group of presidents of colleges of physicians and medical academies in nations including the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Thailand, Britain and Nigeria.  They certainly don’t mince words:

While the poorest in the world will be the first affected, none will be spared.

Let’s keep our eyes on the upcoming summit in Copenhagen to see if world leaders are listening.