SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The effects of global warming in Utah could lead to public health problems related to increased pollution, heat-related illnesses and more frequent dust storms, a group of Utah doctors, medical professors and scientists said last week.

"Climate crisis is the greatest public health threat of the 21st Century and that includes Utah," Dr. Brian Moench, an anesthesiologist and president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said a presentation at the University of Utah Medical school.

Utah has already warmed over the last century and most climatologists believe temperatures will rise higher than global averages in the coming decades.

Robert Davies, a physicist at the Utah Climate Center at Utah State University, said the evidence of global warming is overwhelming and the vast majority of scientists agree people are the primary cause. There are those who dissent, he said, but that shouldn't curtail efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

"Think of it this way: If a few thousand cardiologists agree your arteries are clogged, you're not likely to care if a single cardiologist disagrees, and you're certainly not going to care if your dermatologist disagrees," Davies said.

One of the likely consequences of a warming climate is an increase in ozone, a pollutant that can decrease lung function and cause other health problems, said Dr. Richard Kanner, a professor of medicine at the University of Utah and former chair of the state's Air Quality Board.

He also voiced concern about an increase in heat-related illnesses and deaths.

"As the Earth heats up, we're going to see more of this," Kanner said.

Dr. Elizabeth Joy, an associate professor of family and sports medicine, warned of drying lake beds in Utah that could become a source for dust storms carrying harmful microorganisms. Another professor of environmental medicine said hotter temperatures in Utah could lead to more mosquitoes and mosquito-related diseases.

The group urged action, including a 25 percent reduction in Utah's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, enforcement of stricter energy efficiency codes for homes and buildings, water conservation, more mass transportation and a "sharp reduction" in meat consumption.

Members of the Utah Medical Association have approved a resolution to request that the governor develop a plan to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

Mark Fotheringham, UMA's vice president of communications, who was not at Thursday's presentation, said no action has been taken on that the resolution.