Health impacts of climate change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that “evidence is growing that climate change already contributes to the global burden of disease and premature deaths”.

Particular impacts will include:

Extreme weather events

• Heat waves - the European heat wave in 2003 led to over 20 000 excess deaths in two weeks
• Floods - extensive flooding across the globe in the last few years led to increases in infectious diseases, respiratory symptoms and mental health problems
• Malnutrition - droughts and floods will have a devastating effect on already-scarce food supplies.

Infectious diseases

• Changing distribution of vector-borne diseases, particularly malaria and dengue, is predicted to be ‘very likely’ with rising temperatures
• Rodent-borne and water-borne diseases are also likely to increase
• Animal health will also be threatened - 60 cases of bluetongue virus were reported in the UK for the first time ever in 2007, partly as a result of weather conditions.

Respiratory disease and immune disorders

• Increasing levels of ozone at ground level could lead to a wide range of adverse respiratory conditions
• Changing levels of allergenic pollen are likely to lead to an increase in the incidence and intensity of allergic rhinitis.

Increasing exposure to UV radiation

• Climate change could slow the recovery of the ozone layer and increase exposure to UV radiation in the population, increasing the risks of skin cancer and the incidence of cataracts.

Population displacement

• Hundreds of thousands of people could be displaced as a result of water scarcity and rising sea levels, with significant health impacts.

There are still many uncertainties about the health impacts of climate change. Other socioeconomic and environmental factors will also have a significant influence and should not be ignored from modelling work. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that climate change will have the biggest impact on low- and middle-income countries, which have the lowest capacity to respond.

Background document

• The health consequences of climate change [PDF 244.8KB]