Climate change affects human health nowhere near what most people think. It touches almost every part of our physical and mental health. Higher temperatures and poor air quality hurt our heart health. The growing number of extreme weather events causes injuries, forces people from their homes and leaves lasting emotional scars.
This piece explores what are the impacts of climate change on human, points out who faces the biggest risks and offers ways to deal with this growing global challenge.
How does climate change impacts human health and well being?
Climate change affects human health in multiple ways, both directly and indirectly. Rising temperatures increase the risk of heatstroke and cardiovascular problems, while air pollution from wildfires and fossil fuels worsens respiratory conditions like asthma.
Extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes lead to injuries, mental stress and disruption of healthcare systems. Climate change also contributes to the spread of infectious diseases, water and food insecurity and growing mental health challenges, especially in vulnerable populations like children, the elderly and low income communities.
Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns
Temperature increases pose one of the biggest health threats from climate change. The European summer of 2022 saw an estimated 61,672 heat related deaths.
Extreme heat leads to many health issues beyond death. People suffer from heat stroke, dehydration and heart, breathing and brain problems. The risks aren’t equal for everyone. Outdoor workers, student athletes, homeless people, poor families without AC, young children, pregnant women and older adults face higher risks.
Weather patterns are changing. We see more frequent and severe storms, floods, droughts and wildfires. These events kill and injure people directly. They also create ongoing health problems through displacement, damaged infrastructure and mental trauma.
Disruption of ecosystems and disease vectors
Climate change reshapes the ecosystems that keep us healthy. Take vector borne diseases, which mosquitoes, ticks and other insects spread. The Lancet Planetary Health reports that climate change could put another 5-6 billion people at risk of dengue fever transmission by 2085, according to studies.
Temperature affects both carriers and germs through “thermal performance curves”, how temperature changes body functions. As temperatures rise, mosquitoes, ticks and other pests move into new areas. Lyme disease has spread into northern parts of Asia and Europe as winters get warmer.
Exotic Hyalomma ticks were found in Germany in 2018, some carrying the human pathogen Rickettsia aeschlimannii, indicating their potential to spread northward, according to studies. Climate change has also triggered a massive pine beetle outbreak in North American forests. This shows how ecosystem damage leads to various health risks, including increased runoff, dirty water and forest fires.
Air, water food system instability
Climate change hurts the three systems we need to live: air, water and food. Higher temperatures make air quality worse. They increase ground level ozone and cause more wildfires that fill the air with harmful particles. These changes make asthma, lung disease and heart problems worse.
Water systems face several threats as rainfall patterns shift. Floods, heavy rains and runoff contaminate water with bacteria, viruses and parasites. Changing water temperatures let harmful Vibrio bacteria and toxic algae thrive in unexpected places.
Food security suffers as climate change disrupts farming. In 2020, up to 811 million people worldwide were undernourished, an increase of 161 million from the previous year. Crops grown in higher temperatures are less nutritious. Rising carbon dioxide levels reduce protein and essential minerals in wheat, rice and potatoes. These changes hit vulnerable populations hardest, especially those who already struggle to get enough healthy food.
Direct health impacts of climate change
Climate change threatens our health in three main ways: extreme heat exposure, poor air quality and physical dangers from extreme weather. These threats cause widespread suffering and death worldwide and some groups face greater risks than others.
Heat related illnesses and deaths
Global temperature rise has made heat exposure one of the deadliest weather related threats. Heat stress affects the body in stages. The body first struggles to maintain its temperature, which causes heat exhaustion with symptoms like heavy sweating, rapid pulse and dizziness. Without relief, this can turn into heatstroke, a life-threatening emergency with high death rates.
Heat doesn’t just cause these immediate problems. It puts enormous pressure on the heart and kidneys. This explains why much of heat related deaths come from existing health conditions getting worse rather than direct heat illnesses.
Respiratory conditions from air pollution
Climate change makes breathing problems worse in several ways. Higher temperatures raise ground-level ozone and particle pollution levels, which harm lung function. Research shows that breathing in these particles damages health at any level, there’s no safe amount.
Climate change and bad air quality feed each other. Warmer weather leads to more ozone through increased sunlight and heat. Meanwhile, wildfires, droughts and spreading deserts add more particles to the air. These pollutants trigger asthma attacks, make COPD worse and cause bronchitis.
Indoor air quality suffers too. Researches show that poor indoor air causes about 1.6 million deaths yearly, with children under 5 in climate-vulnerable countries making up more than half these deaths. Climate change also makes pollen seasons longer and more intense, leading to more asthma and allergies.
Injuries and trauma from extreme weather events
Extreme weather events cause direct physical harm more often and with greater force. The number and economic costs of billion-dollar weather disasters in the US have increased along with rising CO2 levels and temperatures, necessitating disaster risk reduction measures.
The mental toll from these disasters lasts long after physical wounds heal. Camp Fire survivors in California showed PTSD rates similar to war veterans. Climate trauma stands out because it keeps happening, people often face new disasters before recovering from the last one, which can lead to long term PTSD. This mental impact shows up in real ways, like making it hard to plan for the future.
These health effects work together to put massive strain on healthcare systems worldwide.
Indirect and long term health effects
Climate change does more than create immediate threats. It sets off a chain of health effects that change disease patterns, food systems and psychological wellbeing around the world over time.
Spread of infectious diseases
Climate changes have expanded the reach and strength of infectious diseases. The number of reported vector-borne disease cases in the United States more than doubled from 2004 to 2016, with Lyme disease accounting for 82% of all tickborne disease reports. These numbers are just “the tip of the iceberg”, actual disease numbers are nowhere near the reported figures.
Studies show tick borne illnesses have become a major concern and make up over 80% of all reported vector-borne disease cases in the U.S. The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), which spreads Lyme disease, babesiosis and other serious infections, has spread to many new areas in the last 25 years. Cases of babesiosis are now showing up in previously unaffected areas across the Northeast.
Several factors link climate change to these disease patterns. Warmer temperatures and changing rainfall create better homes for disease carriers. These conditions also speed up how quickly pathogens grow inside carriers and let them stay active longer each year. Diseases that once stayed in specific regions are now appearing in unexpected places. Malaria cases have been documented in Maryland recently.
Food insecurity and malnutrition
Climate change poses a serious threat to global nutrition. Right now, 200 million children under 5 live in severe food poverty. Among them, 148 million have stunted growth and 45 million suffer from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, according to data.
Climate disruptions hurt nutrition in several ways. Extreme weather damages crops and disrupts food systems directly. Higher carbon dioxide levels lower protein and essential mineral content in basic foods like wheat and rice. Climate stress also increases foodborne illnesses, which already affect 600 million people each year.
These risks affect everyone, but children bear the heaviest burden. Most child deaths expected from climate change will come from poor nutrition.
Mental health challenges and climate anxiety
Climate change takes a psychological toll both right after disasters and through ongoing environmental changes. Survivors of climate disasters like the 2018 Camp Fire in California showed PTSD rates similar to war veteran.
Research shows climate anxiety is widespread among children and young people globally, and is associated with perceived inadequate government response to climate change.
Who is most vulnerable to climate related health risks
Climate change affects everyone’s health, but some groups suffer more due to their biology, economic status and where they live. Experts now recognize this uneven distribution of health problems as a serious environmental justice concern.
Children, elderly and pregnant individuals
A child’s developing body and mind make them especially vulnerable to climate related health threats. They consume more air and water per body weight than adults, which exposes them more to pollutants. This vulnerability helps explain why climate change could increase childhood asthma incidence by 4-11% with 2°C-4°C of global warming, according to studies.
The elderly become more vulnerable to climate effects as their body’s temperature regulation declines with age. Older adults face greater risks during extreme weather events, especially when they have limited mobility or existing health conditions.
Pregnancy brings unique climate related risks. Heat exposure increases preterm birth chances differently across racial groups. Black and Hispanic mothers face higher risks (24.6% and 17.3% per 10°F temperature increase) compared to white women (7.2%). Studies show that non-white populations experience more stillbirths from heat exposure.
People with chronic illnesses or disabilities
Climate hazards hit harder for people with existing medical conditions. Heat and pollution worsen chronic diseases like heart conditions, breathing problems and diabetes. Rural Montana’s residents show how higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and chronic liver disease associate with greater climate vulnerability.
Disability increases climate risk dramatically. People with disabilities die or suffer injuries two to four times more often during climate emergencies. These higher risks stem from limited access to information, support and evacuation help rather than the disabilities themselves. Heat waves kill three times more people with psychosocial disabilities, according to studies.
Climate change poses one of the biggest threats to human health we’ve seen in our lifetime. This piece shows how rising temperatures, poor air quality and extreme weather directly harm our physical health. On top of that, it affects us in hidden ways, diseases spread to new areas, food becomes scarce and mental health problems grow worse. These effects will last for generations. The harsh truth is that climate related health problems hit society’s most vulnerable people the hardest.
