Climate change and human health

Raising awareness about the impacts of climate change on human health can help all of us play a stronger role in telling this story and supporting protective actions for people and the planet.

Climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health, and changes the way we must look at protecting vulnerable populations

Global environmental change

Large-scale and global environmental hazards to human health include climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, changes in ecosystems due to loss of biodiversity, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, land degradation, urbanization, and stresses on food-producing systems.

Appreciation of this scale and type of influence on human health requires a new perspective which focuses on ecosystems and on the recognition that the foundations of long-term good health in populations rely in great part on the continued stability and functioning of the biosphere's life-supporting systems. It also brings an appreciation of the complexity of the systems upon which we depend. 

Climate risk management

The effects on climate on health are now well known. If the health sector expects to appropriately adapt to greater variability and longer term changes in the worlds climate systems, then climate and meteorological information must be taken into greater consideration in health science, practice, and policy making.

The development of climate risk management and information services for the health sector will be a major component of climate adaptation. Tools and knowledge systems which clarify and reduce uncertainty about the climate sensitivity of diseases, will be essential inputs to disease control policies such as malaria elimination, as well as preventing health risks from extreme weather events and climate variability.

Climate adaptation

Climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health. Mitigating climate change by reducing green house gases in the atmosphere is slowly happening around the world. However it will not be sufficient or timely to prevent climate change from having negative impacts on ecosystems, populations and human health. Strategic steps and measures are required by the health sector to address additional and new health risks posed by climate change.

Adaptation to climate change means protecting human health by identifying health risks affected by climate change and proposing solutions to reduce community vulnerability to exposures or enhance management of health programs and systems.

Vulnerability and adaptation assessment

Climate change is adversely affecting the health of populations around the world, with the greatest impacts in low-income countries. The future health impacts of climate change will vary over spatial and temporal scales, and will depend on changing socioeconomic and environmental conditions, as well as the preparedness of communities and health systems to avoid preventable health problems.

Vulnerability and Adaptation (V&A) Assessments are a key instrument to identify and prepare for changing health risks. V&A assessments can provide information for decision-makers on the extent and magnitude of likely health risks attributable to climate change, as well as suggest priority policies and programmes that can prevent or reduce the severity of future impacts.