‘Paying in lives’: health of billions at risk from global heating, warns report

THE GUARDIAN

Inaction on the climate crisis is ‘costing lives and livelihoods’ due to extreme heat, food insecurity and infectious diseases, say scientists

The climate crisis will have a catastrophic effect on the health and survival of billions of people unless the world acts to reduce global heating, according to a leading report that warns that heat-related deaths are soaring, dangerous bacteria are spreading along coasts, and economies are being hit as people struggle to work and food production shrinks.

The eighth annual report on health and climate change from the Lancet Countdown team shows that little account has been taken of past warnings. The world, it says, is “moving in the wrong direction”, and strongly criticises continuing investment in fossil fuels.

The report comes as Cop28 prepares to hold its first Health Day, focused on the links between the climate crisis and human health.

The report says that 127 million more people were experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021, compared with the previous three decades, putting them at risk of malnutrition and irreversible health harm. Life-threatening diseases are spreading, including dengue, malaria and West Nile virus. Warmer seas have led to the coastal spread of the water-borne vibrio bacteria at the rate of an extra 204 miles (329km) a year since 1982, putting 1.4 billion people at risk of diarrhoeal disease, severe wound infections and sepsis. Exposure to air pollution – which is worsened by heatwaves – is increasing the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, neurological disorders, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Heat-related deaths among over-65s, who are more vulnerable, are up by 85% since the 1990s. Without the increase in global temperatures, such deaths would have increased as the population enlarges, but only by 38%. The highest global temperatures in more than 100,000 years were recorded in 2023, says the report.

Even at the current 10-year mean heating of 1.14C above pre-industrial levels, there is a profound impact on the lives and health of people around the world. But, say the 114 experts from 52 research institutions and UN agencies, what we are seeing could just be early symptoms of the disaster to come.

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