Climate change and health

Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter. Home/ Newsroom/ Factsheets/ Detail/ Climatechangeandhealth WHO/A.Craggs © Credits Climatechangeandhealth 30October2021 Keyfacts Climatechangeaffectsthesocialandenvironmentaldeterminantsofhealth–cleanair,safedrinkingwater,sufficientfoodandsecureshelter. Between2030and2050,climatechangeisexpectedtocauseapproximately250000additionaldeathsperyear,frommalnutrition,malaria,diarrhoeaandheatstress. Thedirectdamagecoststohealth(i.e.excludingcostsinhealth-determiningsectorssuchasagricultureandwaterandsanitation),isestimatedtobebetweenUSD2-4billion/yearby2030. Areaswithweakhealthinfrastructure–mostlyindevelopingcountries–willbetheleastabletocopewithoutassistancetoprepareandrespond. Reducingemissionsofgreenhousegasesthroughbettertransport,foodandenergy-usechoicescanresultinimprovedhealth,particularlythroughreducedairpollution. Climatechange-thebiggesthealththreatfacinghumanityClimatechangeisthesinglebiggesthealththreatfacinghumanity,andhealthprofessionalsworldwidearealreadyrespondingtothehealthharmscausedbythisunfoldingcrisis.TheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange(IPCC)hasconcludedthattoavertcatastrophichealthimpactsandpreventmillionsofclimatechange-relateddeaths,theworldmustlimittemperatureriseto1.5°C.Pastemissionshavealreadymadeacertainlevelofglobaltemperatureriseandotherchangestotheclimateinevitable.Globalheatingofeven1.5°Cisnotconsideredsafe,however;everyadditionaltenthofadegreeofwarmingwilltakeaserioustollonpeople’slivesandhealth.Whilenooneissafefromtheserisks,thepeoplewhosehealthisbeingharmedfirstandworstbytheclimatecrisisarethepeoplewhocontributeleasttoitscauses,andwhoareleastabletoprotectthemselvesandtheirfamiliesagainstit-peopleinlow-incomeanddisadvantagedcountriesandcommunities.Theclimatecrisisthreatenstoundothelastfiftyyearsofprogressindevelopment,globalhealth,andpovertyreduction,andtofurtherwidenexistinghealthinequalitiesbetweenandwithinpopulations.Itseverelyjeopardizestherealizationofuniversalhealthcoverage(UHC)invariousways–includingbycompoundingtheexistingburdenofdiseaseandbyexacerbatingexistingbarrierstoaccessinghealthservices,oftenatthetimeswhentheyaremostneeded.Over930millionpeople-around12%oftheworld’spopulation-spendatleast10%oftheirhouseholdbudgettopayforhealthcare.Withthepoorestpeoplelargelyuninsured,healthshocksandstressesalreadycurrentlypusharound100millionpeopleintopovertyevery year,withtheimpactsofclimatechangeworseningthistrend.Climate-sensitivehealthrisksClimatechangeisalreadyimpactinghealthinamyriadofways,includingbyleadingtodeathandillnessfromincreasinglyfrequentextremeweatherevents,suchasheatwaves,stormsandfloods,thedisruptionoffoodsystems,increasesinzoonosesandfood-,water-andvector-bornediseases,andmentalhealthissues.Furthermore,climatechangeisunderminingmanyofthesocialdeterminantsforgoodhealth,suchaslivelihoods,equalityandaccesstohealthcareandsocialsupportstructures.Theseclimate-sensitivehealthrisksaredisproportionatelyfeltbythemostvulnerableanddisadvantaged,includingwomen,children,ethnicminorities,poorcommunities,migrantsordisplacedpersons,olderpopulations,andthosewithunderlyinghealthconditions.Figure:Anoverviewofclimate-sensitivehealthrisks,theirexposurepathwaysandvulnerabilityfactors.Climatechangeimpactshealthbothdirectlyandindirectly,andisstronglymediatedbyenvironmental,socialandpublichealthdeterminants.Althoughitisunequivocalthatclimatechangeaffectshumanhealth,itremainschallengingtoaccuratelyestimatethescaleandimpactofmanyclimate-sensitivehealthrisks.However,scientificadvancesprogressivelyallowustoattributeanincreaseinmorbidityandmortalitytohuman-inducedwarming,andmoreaccuratelydeterminetherisksandscaleofthesehealththreats.Intheshort-tomedium-term,thehealthimpactsofclimatechangewillbedeterminedmainlybythevulnerabilityofpopulations,theirresiliencetothecurrentrateofclimatechangeandtheextentandpaceofadaptation.Inthelonger-term,theeffectswillincreasinglydependontheextenttowhichtransformationalactionistakennowtoreduceemissionsandavoidthebreachingofdangeroustemperaturethresholdsandpotentialirreversibletippingpoints. ReadMoreCOP26HealthProgrammeWHO'sCountrySupportonClimateChangeandHealthWHO'sworkonclimatechangeandhealth  Related WHO'sworkonclimatechangeandhealthFastFactsonclimatechangeandhealthCOP26HealthProgramme News Countriescommittodevelopclimate-smarthealthcareatCOP26UNclimateconference 9November2021 COP26-Directlinkagesbetweenclimatechange,healthandmigrationmustbetackledurgently–IOM,WHO,LancetMigration 9November2021 Factsheets BiodiversityandHealth 3June2015 HeatandHealth 1June2018 Featurestories WhathasCOP26achievedforhealth? 21November2021 Documents FastFactsonClimateandHealth (353KB)