Climate change is bad for health but climate services save lives

Climate change undermines health determinants and increases pressures on health systems threatening to reverse decades of progress to promote human health and well-being, particularly in the most vulnerable communities.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes, with very high confidence, that future health risks from injury, disease, and death will increase due to more intense and frequent temperature extremes, cyclones, storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires. It is anticipated that over 50% of the excess mortality resulting from climate change by the year 2050 will occur in Africa.

Health protection is a priority in almost all countries and requires high-quality information to better inform decision-making.  Climate information and services are fundamental for better understanding how and when health systems and population health can be impacted by climate extremes and a changing climate, and for managing climate-related risks.

Climate information and services are fundamental for better understanding how and when health systems and population health can be impacted by climate extremes and a changing climate, and for managing risks. Tailored climate products and services can enhance the evidence and information available to health partners to detect, monitor, predict, and manage climate-related health risks.

There is huge potential for enhancing the benefits of climate science and climate services for the health sector and for increasing accessibility, relevance and uptake.  Only 31% of NMHSs provide climate services at a ‘full’ or ‘advanced’ level of capacity. A large range of academic, private sector, and government partners are also working to fill the gap, and this needs to be put on a sustainable and coordinated footing.

Extreme head causes the greatest mortality of all extreme weather

WMO

Extreme heat causes the greatest mortality of all extreme weather, yet heat warning services are provided to health decision makers in only half of the affected countries. According to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, rising temperatures and the growing over-65 population have triggered an increase in heat-related mortality in this age group of approximately 68% between 2017-2021, compared to 2000-2004.

According to the IPCC, there is “high confidence” that Central and South America, southern Europe, southern and Southeast Asia and Africa will be the most affected by climate change in terms of heat-related mortality by 2100, based on 1.5°C, 2°C and 3°C increases in the global temperature.

The IPCC also notes with “very high confidence” significant impacts of heat are expected from the combination of future urban development and the more frequent occurrence of heatwaves, with more hot days and warm nights adding to heat stress in cities.

Concerns relating to air quality, climate change, and health are interlinked. Climate mitigation action leading to reducing air pollution can save lives. Despite this, only 2% of climate finance commitments made by international development funders in developing and emerging countries is explicitly aimed at tackling air pollution (in 2015-2021), even though it is the most dangerous environmental threat to health.

In 2019, air pollution moved up from the fifth to the fourth place in the scale of leading risk factors for death globally, continuing to exceed the impacts of other widely recognized risk factors for chronic disease like obesity, cardiovascular disease, and malnutrition.

There is insufficient investment to improve the capabilities of the health sector, leaving it ill-prepared to safeguard the most vulnerable. Currently, just 0.2% of total bilateral and multilateral adaptation finance supports projects that identify health as the primary focus, and the investment in the capacity for multisectoral and effective climate science and services is miniscule."

Most hydrometeorological investments are not clearly designed to support health outcomes. This needs to change.

To fully harness the potential of climate services for health, transformational change in institutional development and integration across the health and climate sectors are needed.

In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, all countries have experienced the social and economic losses and damages which can occur when the health of society is compromised. More must be done to prepare the health community for future shocks and pressures they may experience due to climate variability and the damaging effects of climate change.

The governing World Meteorological Congress in 2023 approved a 10-year strategy on Advancing Integrated Climate, Environment, and Health Science and Services (2023–2033) in collaboration with WHO and other health partners to address the challenges.

Climate change impacts are not experienced equally.

WMO

Success stories

Examples of benefits of climate services for health, include:

In Africa, food security and shock response systems support social protection in Mauritania and the Sahel. Humanitarian organizations are improving clean water provision and nutrition through drought anticipation measures in Kenya

In Europe, a mobile app has been developed to provide information on risks of heatwaves and air pollution in urban environments. Real-time observations of aeroallergens are revolutionizing the information available to users of the app – and improving the health of millions of European allergy patients. The Local Climate Adaptation Tool supporting local decision makers in the UK to identify adaptation measures

In the Pacific, enhanced integrated risk monitoring and climate-informed early warning systems have helped people in Fiji better prepare and respond to climatic changes, reducing morbidity and mortality from climate-sensitive diseases. Australia played a leading role in the develop of a Sun-Smart App to protect people against harmful UV levels.

In the Pan-American region, early warning systems for extreme heat and cold in Argentina were pioneered with the health and civil protections sectors.

Climate and Health Bulletins in the Caribbean and Colombia improve the management of environmental health and climate services. There are Smart Health Care facilities (weather-resilient and environmentally friendly) in the Caribbean. The One Health approach helps to integrate weather, water, and climate services in the USA, whilst Canada uses model-based risk assessments of vector-borne disease emergence.

In Southeast Asia, satellites support the integration of climate and environmental information into health surveillance systems for Myanmar, and the development of an integrated early warning system for dengue in Vietnam and measures to enhance the resilience of the most vulnerable settlements in Lao PDR.