Climate change poses one of the most significant health challenges in the 21st century says World Health Organization statistics report 2023. As our climate undergoes shifts, we are witnessing more frequent and severe weather events, including storms, extreme heat, floods, droughts, and wildfires.
directly and indirectly impact human health
These events directly and indirectly impact human health, increasing the risk of deaths, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and health emergencies. Furthermore, climate change affects our health workforce and infrastructure, diminishing our capacity to provide universal health coverage (UHC).
disrupts essential elements of the environment and social determinants of health
The repercussions of climate shocks and growing stresses, such as changing temperature and precipitation patterns, droughts, floods, and rising sea levels, also degrade the environmental and social factors that determine our physical and mental well-being. Every aspect of health, from clean air, water, and soil to food systems and livelihoods, is influenced by climate change. Failure to address climate change promptly will escalate health risks, undoing decades of progress in global health and violating our collective commitment to ensuring the universal right to health for all.
approximately 3.6 billion people worldwide inhabit areas highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change
According to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, approximately 3.6 billion people worldwide inhabit areas highly vulnerable to the impacts of this. Low-income and lower-middle-income countries, as well as small island developing states, bear the greatest health consequences despite contributing the least to historical global emissions.
Lack of access to safe drinking water affects around 2 billion people
Vulnerable regions experience 15 times more lethal floods, droughts, and storms compared to regions with low vulnerability. Within countries, certain populations face greater vulnerability to climate change impacts, such as those living in poverty, the elderly, women, children, indigenous peoples, outdoor workers, socially isolated individuals, and those with pre-existing medical conditions. Lack of access to safe drinking water affects around 2 billion people, while global foodborne illnesses account for approximately 600 million cases, with children under 5 years old bearing 40% of the burden and resulting in 125,000 deaths each year.
climate-related environmental stressors compromise the safety of water and soil
Extreme weather events and climate-related environmental stressors compromise the safety of water and soil, heightening the risks of waterborne and foodborne diseases. Additionally, it is estimated that in 2020, between 720 and 811 million people faced hunger primarily in Africa and Asia. Rising temperatures, sea level rise, and flooding affect all aspects of food and nutrition security, leading to further crises in food and nutrition.
Mental health is also significantly impacted by this
Changing temperature and precipitation patterns also create more favorable conditions for the transmission of mosquito-borne, tick-borne, and rodent-borne diseases in many regions, potentially increasing the annual death toll of over 700,000 from vector-borne diseases. Climate change can have acute and long-term effects on mental health, with extreme weather events triggering conditions such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The cumulative impact of climate change-induced loss of livelihood, displacement, disrupted social cohesion, and uncertainty can also contribute to long-term mental health disorders, further exacerbating the global mental health crisis.
World Health Organization (WHO) and leading researchers conducted a quantitative risk assessment of the effects of this on selected causes of death
Estimating the full health burden of climate change is a complex task. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) and leading researchers conducted a quantitative risk assessment of the effects of climate change on selected causes of death. Under a medium-high emissions scenario, it was projected that climate change would cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year by 2030. However, this estimate was conservative and only accounted for climate-attributable deaths from malaria, heat exposure in older individuals, undernutrition, and diarrheal disease in children, as well as coastal flood mortality.
climate change would significantly and adversely impact future mortality
The assessment acknowledged that existing models had limitations in capturing the major causal pathways that affect various health outcomes. Despite this limitation, the assessment made it clear that climate change would significantly and adversely impact future mortality. Since 2015, the WHO,