Climate change and human health: Global crisis demanding urgent action
Efforts are needed to build climate-resilient health systems to prepare and recover fast
Human health is one of the most important factors that influence the economic development of a country. Therefore, the immediate consequences of environmental degradation damaging human health affect nations worldwide.
The health impacts of climate change can be categorised into two segments — direct and indirect.
The direct factors include thermal stress, death, or injury due to extreme events such as drought, floods, tsunamis, and cyclones. In contrast, indirect factors include changes in air quality, leading to vector-borne diseases, waterborne pathogens, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.
Innovations in environmental health have demonstrated that risk elements such as pollution, chemical exposure, and ultraviolet radiation can cause over 100 types of diseases and injuries. While air pollution can cause respiratory diseases, heavy metals can trigger neurotoxicity, and global climate change is likely to fuel the spread of infectious diseases.
Dr. Margaret Chan, the former director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) once remarked, “A ruined planet cannot sustain human lives in good health. A healthy planet and healthy people are two sides of the same coin.”
Since creating and sustaining healthier environments can significantly decrease ill effects, governments must take strong actions to improve the environment to save lives.
Sliding farther and faster
Though the early warning systems and disaster management efforts have decreased deaths due to climate-related calamities, more needs to be done on this front.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) data on climate change exhibits that the number of deaths due to climate-related disasters decreased significantly from 50,000 during the 1970s to 20,000 in the 2010s and the death toll dropped in subsequent years.
Reports indicated that between 2000 and 2019, when the global temperature rose by 0.26°C per decade, the estimated deaths due to heat were approximately 489,000 per year, with a particularly high burden in Asia (45 per cent) and Europe (36 per cent).
The extreme heat during the summer of 2022, had claimed over 60,000 excess deaths in 35 European countries.
The comprehensive study indicates that global warming due to climate change will increase the mortality rate.
Climate variation has become one of the most challenging health crises populations face globally.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, it affects human health with problems induced by notable extreme weather conditions such as the intensity and frequency of heatwaves, hurricanes, and landslides.
Warmer temperatures and shifting weather patterns can worsen air quality, causing respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumothorax, allergies, asthma attacks, hyperthermia, and cardiovascular health effects.
As the climate changes, wildfires are expected to increase in number and severity, creating smoke and unhealthy air pollutants. The threat of a changing climate can also be demonstrated in the rising sea surface temperatures and runoff effect on coastal water quality and salinity, humidity, and exposure to Lyme disease-causing bacteria.
Time To Stay Committed
The multifaceted impacts of climate change on human health are undeniable and present a formidable challenge.
The intricate interplay between environmental changes and public health demands a proactive and multifarious approach to mitigation and adaptation strategies.
It’s time to harness scientific insights and comprehensive models to devise robust solutions that safeguard human health and ensure the resilience of communities against the inevitable vicissitudes of the changing climate.
Environmental conservation and sustainability must be at the heart of the world’s political agenda. The States must ensure a percentage of the total land coverage is under green cover to set examples of carbon-neutral countries — the results of which will go a long way.
It’s not just a responsibility but a moral imperative to act with urgency and collective resolve to protect the sanctity of life and the Earth’s environmental integrity.
The choices we make today will determine the well-being of generations to come. As it is said, ‘Life can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forward.’
(Next week the author will discuss Nitrous Oxide — the laughing gas)
Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi is Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Emirate of Sharjah