Impact of Climate Change on Health

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that climate risks are emerging faster and will become more severe than previously expected. It also concluded that it will be more challenging to adapt with increased global heating. The average temperature of the Earth’s surface is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s (before the industrial revolution). The last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record. Climate change affects people’s health in many ways including:

• by changing the frequency and severity of health problems.
• by creating new or unexpected health diseases or problems in people or places where they were absent earlier.

The extent to which a person is vulnerable to climate change depends on three main factors:

• Duration of Exposure to the pollutant.
• Sensitivity of the individual, as some people are more sensitive due to factor such as age and long term illness.
• Adaptability to the changing weather conditions. A person’s ability to adapt may depend upon their income, age, living situation, access to health care, and many other factors.

Various impact of climate change on health includes respiratory and heart diseases, pest-related diseases like Lyme disease and West Nile Virus, water- and food-related illnesses, and injuries and deaths. Climate change has also been linked to increases in violent crime and overall poor mental health.

• Urban Heat Islands: Urban areas with high rise buildings and minimal greenery become hotter than surrounding areas. It intensifies the impacts of heatwaves like dehydration and heatstroke.
• Extreme Weather Events: Increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heatwaves, floods can lead to injuries, displacement, and disruption of healthcare services.
• Mental Health Impacts: Climate change can also contribute to mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Climate-related natural disasters can be traumatic, especially for children.
• Increased Sickness and Deaths: Extreme weather events, like the record heat waves in India in 2023, directly contribute to higher rates of illness and mortality.
• Heat-related Illnesses: Rising temperature contribute to more frequent and severe heatwaves. Long exposure to extreme heat can result in heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke, dehydration, and heat exhaustion that increases the morbidity and mortality.
• Vector Borne Diseases: Infectious diseases whose transmission is impacted by climate change include, for example, vector-borne diseases like dengue fever, malaria, tick-borne diseases, leishmaniasis, zika fever, chikungunya and Ebola
• Air Pollution: Climate change increase air pollution. It can cause cardiovascular problems and respiratory conditions like COPD.
• Food shortages and food insecurity: Climate change affects the production of food and its distribution. It leads to food insecuirty and problem of malnutrition, particularly in vulnerable communities like low income communities.
• Migration and displacement: Climate change causes rise in sea levels, frequent and extreme weather events which can force communities to migrate. It can result in increase in crime rate and violence.

Climate Change has a significant and wide range of impacts on human health, affecting both physical and mental well-being. It can have several negative effects on human health including water and food-related illnesses, respiratory and heart diseases, poor mental health, injuries and even death. Climate change can also lead to increased frequency of extreme weather events like flooding and extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, and economic loss that often leads to human migration and conflict.

In this article, we will study climate change, its impact on health, the COP28 UAE declaration on climate and health, the Indian Government initiative and some mitigating measures.