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Concept
Effects of climate change on human health
Summary
The effects of climate change on human health are increasingly well studied and quantified. They can be grouped into direct effects (for example due to heat waves, extreme weather events) or indirect effects. The latter take place through changes in the biosphere for example due to changes in water and air quality, food security and displacement. Social dynamics such as age, gender or socioeconomic status influence to what extent these effects become wide-spread risks to human health. Health risks are unevenly distributed across the world. Disadvantaged populations are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. For example, young children and older people are the most vulnerable to extreme heat.
More specifically, the relationship between health and heat includes the following main aspects: exposure of vulnerable populations to heatwaves, heat-related mortality, reduced labour capacity for outdoor workers and impacts on mental health. Health is also acutely impacted by extreme weather events (floods, hurricanes, droughts, wildfires) through injuries, diseases, and air pollution in the case of wildfires. According to the New York Times, an upcoming study from Stanford University will provide new forms of tracing far-flung smoke and pollution back to the wildfires that caused them. Other indirect health impacts from climate change may be rising food insecurity, undernutrition and water insecurity.
A range of climate-sensitive infectious diseases may increase in some regions, such as mosquito-borne diseases, zoonoses, cholera and some waterborne diseases. Climate change will also impact where infectious diseases are likely to be able to spread in the future. Many infectious diseases are predicted to spread to new geographic areas where people do not have suitable immune systems yet.
The health effects of climate change are increasingly a matter of concern for the international public health policy community. Already in 2009, a publication in the well-known general medical journal The Lancet stated: "Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century".
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