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IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH
source: www.who.int/globalchange/
climate/en/ccSCREEN.pdf
www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/
www.bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/
content/full/325/7372/1094
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Climate change is projected to increase threats to human health, particularly in lower income populations, predominantly within tropical/subtropical countries…- at global level, rising temperatures will put many additional people at risk of contagious diseases like malaria, dengue and encephalitis, all mosquito-borne illness with strong links to warmer temperatures: it is projected that a 2°C increase will put 210 million more people at risk of malaria, with a potential epidemic increase of 30-50% for dengue;
- climate change was estimated to be responsible in 2000 for approximately 2.4% of worldwide diarrhoea, and 6% of malaria in some middle-income countries; cholera killed 120,000 worldwide people in 1995, most of them children;
- variability in climate driven by El Niño: in Peru, more children develop diarrhoeal disease when temperatures are high, and admissions during the El Niño of 1997-8 increased appreciably. In Southeast Asia, episodes of hazardous air pollution from fires in Indonesia were related to drought conditions connected with El Niño;
- in Europe the number of tick-borne encephalitis cases increased in the Baltic region and central Europe between 1980 and 1995, and have remained high;
- during the summer of 2003 there were more than 20 000 additional deaths in western and southern Europe attributable to heat, particularly among the elderly;
- global estimates indicate that, an average temperature rise above 1.2°C will cause an increase in premature mortality of several hundred thousands;
- it is estimated that air pollution causes several hundred thousand deaths a year around the world. An international group of health scientists estimated in 1997 that the adoption of moderate carbon emission control policies worldwide would reduce deaths from particulates alone by about eight million between 2000 and 2020; *
- ultraviolet radiation, which will increase as a result of depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer has a number of adverse effects on human health including increased risks of various forms of skin cancer, weakening of the human immune system and increased risk of eye disorders such as cataract problems.*
* There are complex interrelationships involving air pollution, stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. Human industrial and agricultural activity has been a driving factor in contributing to each of these problems. In a number of instances actions to limit emissions to address one problem will have effects on others as well.
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