The consequences of climate change are killing people and negatively affecting the health of more and more people around the world. If we do not urgently address climate change, the growing threats to health could worsen. According to the eighth global report, The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, human losses are increasing rapidly despite 1.14 degrees of global warming.

Umeå University is the only university in Sweden to participate in this study, and researchers contributed to the new findings presented in the report. One of the researchers, Maria Nilsson, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, said: “This year’s report provides growing evidence of the harmful effects of climate change on health and underlines the urgent need for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. “The report contains worrying information about trends.”

New global forecasts show a serious and growing threat to health has recently worsened and a lack of action on climate change.

“With 1,337 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released every second, emissions are nowhere near the level needed to keep climate hazards at a level our health systems can cope with,” says Professor Ian Semenza from the Department of Public Health and Wellness. Clinical Medicine, one of the researchers working on the report.

Some of the key findings include:

• Passive waiting without implementing climate action is already costing lives and livelihoods. In 2022, people were exposed to unhealthily high temperatures for an average of 86 days; 60% of these were at least twice as likely to be caused by human-caused climate change.
• Latest global projections show that further delayed action on climate change poses a serious and growing threat to health, and that the number of heat-related deaths worldwide will triple by mid-century.
• A new regional section of the report highlights the different and unequal experiences of the health impacts of climate change, as well as the benefits of climate change adaptation and the health benefits of transitioning to clean energy. The authors describe the opportunities offered by a just energy transition to reduce health inequalities and improve the health and well-being of all populations.
• This year’s report shows that the world is moving in the wrong direction. Governments, businesses and banks continue to invest in oil and gas as the challenges and costs of climate adaptation increase dramatically and the world approaches irreversible damage.
• Unless deep and urgent measures are taken to address the root causes of climate change, human health is at serious risk. Clear findings should lead to urgent health-focused climate action to transition the global economy to a carbon-neutral baseline, as well as provide “transformational opportunities” to improve the health of the world population through improved energy access and security, cleaner air, safer drinking water. , healthier food and lifestyles, and more livable cities.

Health-focused climate action

The failure to seriously mitigate climate change is clearly evident in the report, where health-related losses and damages are rapidly increasing worldwide. But the report comes ahead of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), which will focus on health for the first time, with an official health day and a meeting of climate and health ministers. The Lancet Countdown report provides the evidence needed to inform negotiations and take real action on climate to protect health. In response to the publication of the report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (who was not involved in its preparation) said:

“We are witnessing the unfolding of a human catastrophe where the health and livelihoods of billions of people around the world are at risk from record heat waves, crop losses due to drought, rising levels of hunger, increasing infectious disease outbreaks, deadly storms and floods.” . The continued expansion of fossil fuels is a death sentence for millions of people. There is no excuse for the continued delay in climate action. “Temperature increases must be limited to 1.5°C to prevent the worst of climate change, save millions of lives and help protect the health of everyone around the world.”

Improved air quality

The challenges are serious, but the report describes the health benefits that can be achieved from transitioning to a carbon-neutral future. A key part of this is the commitment to ensuring and supporting a rapid transition to clean energy and energy efficiency in low-income countries.

At the same time, improving air quality could prevent many of the 1.9 million deaths each year from direct exposure to outdoor fuel-related air pollution and millions of other deaths from indoor air pollution. The report also describes the potential for significant additional health effects from a rapid shift to low-carbon diets. Source