Status: 26.10.2022 06:30 a.m
More heat deaths, new infectious diseases and food insecurity: Climate change is putting increasing pressure on our healthcare systems. That shows a new study. But there are solutions.
By Lena Puttfarcken, SWR
After more than two years of the pandemic, the health systems worldwide are already weakened anyway – but climate change will put even more strain on them in the future. For example, the risk of heat mortality is increasing: for people over 65, it is now 68 percent higher than at the beginning of the millennium. This is the report of an international research group in the journal “The Lancet”.
The report is entitled “Health at the mercy of fossil fuelsIt is the seventh report in the Lancet Countdowns series. This time, 99 experts from over 50 institutions contributed to it, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Meteorology WMO, led by University College London.
More and more heat waves in Europe
In addition to the global report, there are also regional versions that, for example, examine the climate impacts specifically for Europe. In comparison to the years 2000 to 2009, people in Europe were exposed to 57 percent more heat waves in the past decade. In addition, the warmer climate in Europe promotes the spread of infectious diseases such as dengue fever, malaria or West Nile fever.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly shown us that the health of Europeans needs to be protected from health shocks. But now we see that the increasing health impacts of climate change are putting additional pressure on health systems in both the short and long term,” says Maria Nilson, Chair of the Lancet Countdown in Europe and Professor of Public Health Sciences at Umeå University in Sweden. “To ensure a healthy and resilient future, we need environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient health systems that minimize the current and future health impacts of climate change, while reducing the risk of future pandemics.”
Climate change also threatens crops
In addition to heat and infectious diseases, the report also warns of growing food security problems. The higher temperatures shorten the growing season of corn and wheat, for example, and extreme weather events can destroy crops. According to the research group’s analysis, around 98 million more people were at risk of food insecurity due to extreme heat in 2020 compared to the period from 1981 to 2010. These problems are currently being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which is causing supply shortages, among other things Has.
Adaptation strategies not far advanced
These additional threats from climate change make adaptation all the more important. According to the report, only half of the countries examined have so far examined how their healthcare system would have to be adapted to future climate impacts. Heat adaptation, which plays a major role in cities in particular, has so far only had a low priority worldwide. Of the 1,038 city centers analyzed, the report names only 27 percent as moderately green, although plants are actually important for city cooling. Instead, more and more households are turning to energy-intensive air conditioning systems.
Another point: According to the report, states still rely too much on fossil fuels. The limitation of global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which was actually agreed in the Paris climate agreement, cannot be achieved in this way.
Solution proposals in focus
However, the report also offers a few glimmers of hope. The media around the world are reporting more frequently on climate change and its impact on health, and politicians are also addressing these issues more often. In addition, while the energy sector is still far from being renewable, by 2021 80 percent of investments in the electricity sector were made in fossil-free energy sources.
The report also provides concrete solutions. A more balanced and plant-based diet would have several advantages. In the agricultural sector, 55 percent of the emissions that fall on the production of red meat and milk would be saved. It would also prevent up to 11.5 million diet-related deaths annually and reduce the risk of zoonoses – infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, such as Covid-19.