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Cited by 158Climate Change and Health ImpactsClimate Change and Environmental ImpactAir Quality and Health Impacts

Climate change threats to population health and well-being: the imperative of protective solutions that will last

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Kjellstrom, Tord, McMichael, Anthony J.·2013·Global Health Action
DOI 10.3402/gha.v6i0.20816PMC PMC3617647
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The observational evidence of the impacts of climate conditions on human health is accumulating. A variety of direct, indirect, and systemically mediated health effects have been identified. Excessive daily heat exposures create direct effects, such as heat stroke (and possibly death), reduce work productivity, and interfere with daily household activities. Extreme weather events, including storms, floods, and droughts, create direct injury risks and follow-on outbreaks of infectious diseases, lack of nutrition, and mental stress. Climate change will increase these direct health effects. Indirect effects include malnutrition and under-nutrition due to failing local agriculture, spread of vector-borne diseases and other infectious diseases, and mental health and other problems caused by forced migration from affected homes and workplaces. Examples of systemically mediated impacts on population health include famine, conflicts, and the consequences of large-scale adverse economic effects due to reduced human and environmental productivity. This article highlights links between climate change and non-communicable health problems, a major concern for global health beyond 2015. DISCUSSION: Detailed regional analysis of climate conditions clearly shows increasing temperatures in many parts of the world. Climate modelling indicates that by the year 2100 the global average temperature may have increased by 34°C unless fundamental reductions in current global trends for greenhouse gas emissions are achieved. Given other unforeseeable environmental, social, demographic, and geopolitical changes that may occur in a plus-4-degree world, that scenario may comprise a largely uninhabitable world for millions of people and great social and military tensions. CONCLUSION: It is imperative that we identify actions and strategies that are effective in reducing these increasingly likely threats to health and well-being. The fundamental preventive strategy is, of course, climate change mitigation by significantly reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, especially long-acting carbon dioxide (CO(2)), and by increasing the uptake of CO(2) at the earth's surface. This involves urgent shifts in energy production from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, energy conservation in building design and urban planning, and reduced waste of energy for transport, building heating/cooling, and agriculture. It would also involve shifts in agricultural production and food systems to reduce energy and water use particularly in meat production. There is also potential for prevention via mitigation, adaptation, or resilience building actions, but for the large populations in tropical countries, mitigation of climate change is required to achieve health protection solutions that will last.

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Research works printed but not linked: 36

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Authors
Kjellstrom, T., & McMichael, A. J.
Affiliations
  • Umeå University (SE)
  • Australian National University (AU)
Corresponding author
Kjellstrom, Tord
ORCID
Kjellstrom, Tord
Venue
Global Health Action
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2013-04-02
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
20816
ISSN
  • 1654-9716 (ISSN-L)
  • 1654-9880
DOI
10.3402/gha.v6i0.20816
PMC
PMC3617647
OpenAlex
W2150498991
Cited by
158
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 3
FWCI
7.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2014-06-11)
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Global Health Action (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • TaCCIRe Repository (Sokoine University of Agriculture) (submittedVersion)
  • KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Environmental Impact
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
Keywords
climate change, population health, heat exposure, extreme weather events, infectious disease outbreaks, malnutrition, vector-borne diseases, forced migration, mental health, non-communicable diseases, climate change mitigation, greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, food systems, climate change adaptation, resilience, global temperature projections
MeSH terms
Environment, Health Status, Humans, Socioeconomic Factors, Models, Statistical, Climate Change, Environmental Policy

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