GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS HUMAN HEALTH

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
AND ITS IMPACT ON
HUMAN HEALTH
A. Balasubramanian
Centre for Advanced
Studies in Earth Science,
University of Mysore,
Mysore-6

The IPCC Working groups on
Regional Climate Projections
 The IPCC Working groups on Regional
Climate Projections and their Use in Impacts
and Risk Analysis Studies have formed the
basis for all analyses.
 The context and process of global climate
change, its actual or likely impacts on health,
and how human societies should respond to
it is matter of serious concern to the whole
world.
 Global climate change would affect the
human health through different pathways of
varying complexity, scale and directness and
with different timing.

Climate change
 Climate change is both a development
issue and an environmental issue.
 Developing countries are more
vulnerable to climate change than rich
countries.
 CC may be limited to a specific region, or
it may occur across the whole Earth.
 It can be caused by recurring and
cyclical climate patterns.
 The causes of climate change are many.
 There is a need to understand these
factors for reducing the effects.

We need to change the way we
interact with our environment
 There are lot of measures to be taken
up to combat the impacts of global
climate change, in the context of
human health related issues.
 This paper highlights the effects of
Global Climate Change on human
health and the well-being of all life on
earth and the strategies to be adopted
to combat the effects on human
health.

Climatology
 Climatology is an important branch of earth and
atmospheric sciences.
 It focuses on various aspects including the
changes in global climate and their causative
factors, their effects on the life and ecosystems
and simulate the situations for future course of
action and sustenance.
 Climate change is both a development and an
environmental issue.
 Developing countries are more vulnerable to
climate change than rich countries.
 The poor people are expected to be the most at
risk from the increased impacts of volatility
extreme weather patterns (i.e., floods and
droughts).

The effects of climate
change
 The effects of climate change are expected to
negatively impact the agricultural productivity
throughout the tropics and sub-tropics.
 Issues like decrease in water quantity and quality
in most arid and semi-arid regions, increase in
the incidence of malaria, dengue and other
vector borne diseases in the tropics and sub-
tropics, and the effects on the ecological systems
and their biodiversity.
 In addition, the sea level rise associated with
expected increases in temperature could
displace tens of millions of people living in low-
lying areas and could threaten the very
existence of small islands.

The world’s climate system
 The world’s climate system is an integral
part of this complex of life-supporting
processes.
 It is one of many large number of natural
systems that are now coming under
pressure from the increasing weight of
human population and economic
activities.
 The context and process of global
climate change, its actual or likely
impacts on health, and how human
societies should respond to it is matter of
serious concern to the whole world.

This paper highlights the
effects of Global Climate
Change on human health and
the well-being of all life on
earth.

1. Climate change
 Climate change is defined as a
change in the statistical distribution of
weather over periods of time that
range from decades to millions of
years.
 It can be any change in the average
weather or a change in the distribution
of weather events around an average
(for example, greater or fewer extreme
weather events).

Climate change may be
limited
 Climate change may be limited to a
specific region, or it may occur across
the whole Earth.
 It can be caused by recurring, often
cyclical climate patterns such as El Niño-
Southern Oscillation, or come in the form
of more isolated events such as the Dust
Bowl.
 Climate change is a long-term shift in
weather conditions identified by changes
in temperature, precipitation, winds, and
other indicators.

Changes in average conditions
and changes in variability
 Global Climate Change can involve both
changes in average conditions and
changes in variability, including, for
example, extreme events.
 Effects of global climate change are
significant additions to the spectrum of
environmental health hazards faced by
humankind and other life on earth.
 The longevity of populations depends
on the continued stability and
functioning of the biosphere’s ecological
and physical systems.

 These are often referred to as life-
support systems.
 Traditionally, environmental health
concerns long have been focused on
toxicological or microbiological risks to
from local environmental exposures.
 In addition to global climate change,
these include: the health risks posed by
stratospheric ozone depletion; loss of
biodiversity; stresses on terrestrial and
ocean food-producing systems; changes
in hydrological systems and the supplies
of freshwater; and the global
dissemination of persistent organic
pollutants.

Change in world climate would influence the
functioning of many ecosystem
 Change in world climate would influence
the functioning of many ecosystems and
the biological health of plants and
creatures.
 Likewise, there would be health impacts
on human populations too.
 Countless climatic disasters befell
communities and populations around the
world, leading to starvation, infectious
disease, social collapse and the
disappearance of whole populations.

Different pathways of varying
complexity
 Global climate change would affect the
human health through different pathways
of varying complexity, scale and
directness and with different timing(
Kinney, P. L., 2008 & 2012).
 As the climate changes, we need to
change the way we interact with our
environment.
 There are lots of measures to be taken
up to combat the impacts of global
climate change, in the context of human
health related issues.

2. Causes of Climate
change:
 The earth's climate is naturally variable
on all time scales.
 Any factor that causes a sustained
change to the amount of incoming
energy or the amount of outgoing energy
can lead to climate change.
 As these factors are external to the
climate system, they are referred to as
‘climate forcers', invoking the idea that
they force or push the climate towards a
new long-term state – either warmer or
cooler depending on the cause of
change.

Different factors operate on
different time scales
 Not all of those factors that have been
responsible for changes in earth's
climate in the distant past are relevant
to contemporary climate change.
 The dominant factors that cause
climate change can be divided into
two categories - those related to
natural processes and those related to
human activity.

 In addition to the natural causes of
climate change, the changes internal
to the climate system, such as
variations in ocean currents or
atmospheric circulation, can also
influence the climate for short periods
of time.
 This natural internal climate variability
is superimposed on the long-term
forced climate change.

2.1 Natural Causes:
 The Earth's climate can be affected by
natural factors that are external to the
climate system.
 The major factors are such as
changes in volcanic activity, solar
output, and the Earth's orbit around
the Sun.
 Of these, the two factors relevant on
timescales of contemporary climate
change are changes in volcanic
activity and changes in solar radiation.

2.2 Human Causes:
 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change(IPCC) working groups gave their
Second Assessment Report in 1996 which
concluded as , “the balance of evidence
suggests that there is a discernible human
influence on global climate”.
 The Climate change can also be caused by
human activities, such as the burning of fossil
fuels and the conversion of land for forestry
and agriculture.
 The dominant product of fossil fuel
combustion is carbon dioxide, a greenhouse
gas.

TIME SERIES: 1884 TO 2015
Data source: NASA/GISS
Credit: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio

The overall effect of human
activities
 The overall effect of human activities
since the Industrial Revolution has
been a warming effect, driven
primarily by emissions of carbon
dioxide and enhanced by emissions of
other greenhouse gases.
 The build-up of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere has led to an
enhancement of the
natural greenhouse effect.

2.3 Short-lived and long-lived
climate forcers:
 Carbon dioxide is the main cause of
human-induced climate change.
 it continues to affect the climate system
during its long residence time in the
atmosphere.
 However, fossil fuel combustion,
industrial processes, agriculture, and
forestry-related activities emit other
substances that also act as climate
forcers.
 Some, such as nitrous oxide, are long-
lived greenhouse gases like carbon
dioxide, and so contribute to long-term
climate change.

Other substances have shorter
atmospheric lifetime
 Other substances have shorter atmospheric
lifetimes because they are removed fairly
quickly from the atmosphere.
 Therefore, their effect on the climate system
is similarly short-lived.
 Together, these short-lived climate forcers are
responsible for a significant amount of current
climate forcing from anthropogenic
substances.
 Some short-lived climate forcers have a
climate warming effect which are called as
‘positive climate forcers', while others have a
cooling effect are called as ‘negative climate
forcers'.

Other short-lived climate forcers
 Other short-lived climate forcers have
climate cooling effects, most notably
sulphate aerosols.
 Fossil fuel combustion emits sulphur
dioxide into the atmosphere (in
addition to carbon dioxide) which then
combines with water vapour to form
tiny droplets (aerosols) which reflect
sunlight.

Sulphate aerosols
 Sulphate aerosols remain in the
atmosphere for only a few days
(washing out in what is referred to as
acid rain), and so do not have the
same long-term effect as greenhouse
gases.
 The cooling from sulphate aerosols in
the atmosphere has, however, offset
some of the warming from other
substances.

3.0 Observed impacts
 The IPCC Workshop on Regional
Climate Projections and their Use in
Impacts and Risk Analysis Studies(
Report of 2015) states that the
regional climate change projections
provide the quantitative basis for
studies of projected impacts from
climate change and associated risks,
which are essential building blocks for
the comprehensive assessment of
future climate change studies and
actions.

According to the IPCC's most recent assessment of climate
change ( Assessment Reports, from 2007 to 2015 ), observed
changes that are thought to be due to climate change include:
 Rising sea level and decreases in snow and ice
extent.
 Changes in rain and snowfall (i.e. precipitation)
patterns. Limited evidence of an increase in
intense tropical cyclone activity since about
1970. Changes in snow, ice and frozen ground
have increased the number and size of glacial
lakes, increased ground instability in mountain
and other permafrost regions and led to changes
in some Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems.
 Some rivers, lakes, streams have also been
affected through increased runoff and earlier
spring peak discharge in many glacier- and
snow-fed rivers.

Changes ..
 Changes in water quality of warming rivers and lakes
has been observed. In terrestrial ecosystems, earlier
timing of spring events and shifts in plant and animal
ranges (towards the poles and towards higher
altitudes).
 In some marine and freshwater systems, shifts in
ranges and changes in algal, plankton and fish
abundance.
 Changes in ice cover, salinity (salt concentrations)
and oxygen levels.
 Other changes include agricultural and forestry
management -more forest fires and outbreaks of forest
pests.
 Several aspects of human health, such as heat-
related deaths, changes in infectious disease-carrying
organisms in some areas, and allergy-causing pollen.

The World Health Organisation
(WHO) estimates
 The World Health Organisation (WHO)
estimates that the warming and
precipitation trends due to
anthropogenic climate change of the
past 30 years have shown that it
claims over 150,000 lives every year.

Many prevalent human
diseases
 are linked to climate fluctuations,
 from cardiovascular mortality and
respiratory illnesses due to heat
waves,
 to altered transmission of infectious
diseases and
 malnutrition from crop failures.

Uncertainty remains
 Uncertainty remains in attributing the
expansion or resurgence of diseases to
climate change, owing to lack of long-
term, high-quality data sets as well as
the large influence of socio-economic
factors and changes in immunity and
drug resistance.
 In this analysis, much of the findings and
projections made by the IPCC are
presented for public concern and further
action.

IPCC SRES (Special Report on
Emissions Scenarios - SRES)
scenarios

 IPCC SRES (Special Report on Emissions
Scenarios - SRES) scenarios were constructed
to explore future developments in the global
environment with special reference to the
production of greenhouse gases and aerosol
precursor emissions.
 The IPCC SRES scenarios contain various
driving forces of climate change, including
population growth and socio-economic
development.
 The SRES team defined four narrative storylines
(see Figure 1), labeled A1, A2, B1 and B2,
describing the relationships between the forces
driving greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions
and their evolution during the 21st century for
large world regions and globally. Each storyline
represents different demographic, social,
economic, technological, and environmental
developments that diverge in increasingly

 A1: globalization, emphasis on human wealth
Globalized, intensive (market forces)
The A1 storyline and scenario family describes a future
world of very rapid economic growth, global population
that peaks in mid-century and declines thereafter, and
the rapid introduction of new and more efficient
technologies. Major underlying themes are
convergence among regions, capacity building, and
increased cultural and social interactions, with a
substantial reduction in regional differences in per
capita income.
 The A1 scenario family develops into three groups that
describe alternative directions of technological change
in the energy system. The three A1 groups are
distinguished by their technological emphasis: fossil
intensive (A1FI), non-fossil energy sources (A1T), or a
balance across all sources.

 A2: regionalization, emphasis on human
wealth Regional, intensive (clash of
civilizations)
The A2 storyline and scenario family
describes a very heterogeneous world. The
underlying theme is self-reliance and
preservation of local identities. Fertility
patterns across regions converge very slowly,
which results in continuously increasing
global population. Economic development is
primarily regionally oriented and per capita
economic growth and technological change
are more fragmented and slower than in
other storylines.

 B1: globalization, emphasis on sustainability
and equity Globalized, extensive (sustainable
development)
 The B1 storyline and scenario family
describes a convergent world with the same
global population that peaks in midcentury
and declines thereafter, as in the A1 storyline,
but with rapid changes in economic
structures toward a service and information
economy, with reductions in material intensity,
and the introduction of clean and resource-
efficient technologies.
 The emphasis is on global solutions to
economic, social, and environmental
sustainability, including improved equity, but
without additional climate initiatives.

 B2: regionalization, emphasis on
sustainability and equity Regional, extensive
(mixed green bag)
The B2 storyline and scenario family
describes a world in which the emphasis is
on local solutions to economic, social, and
environmental sustainability.
 It is a world with continuously increasing
global population at a rate lower than A2,
intermediate levels of economic
development, and less rapid and more
diverse technological change than in the B1
and A1 storylines.
 While the scenario is also oriented toward
environmental protection and social equity, it
focuses on local and regional levels.

Structure used for evolving
impact Scenarios

 This Figure shows Population projections - historical data from 1900 to 1990 (based on
Durand, 1967; Demeny; 1990; UN, 1998), and SRES scenarios (based on Lutz, 1996, for
high and low, and UN, 1998, for medium) and IPCC IS92 scenarios (Leggett et al., 1992;
Pepper et al., 1992) from 1990 to 2100.

 This Figure summarizes the global primary energy structure, shares (%) of oil and
gas, coal, and non-fossil (zero-carbon) energy sources - historical development
from 1850 to 1990 and in SRES scenarios. Each corner of the triangle corresponds
to a hypothetical situation in which all primary energy is supplied by a single source
- oil and gas on the top, coal to the left, and non-fossil sources (renewables and
nuclear) to the right.

 This Figure shows global land-use patterns, shares (%)
of croplands and energy biomass, forests, and other
categories including grasslands - historical development
from 1970 to 1990 (based on B1-IMAGE) and in SRES
scenarios

3.1 Direct Impacts on Human
Health
The more direct impacts on health include
those due to
(1) changes in exposure to weather extremes
(heatwaves, winter cold);
(2) increases in other extreme weather events
(floods, cyclones, storm-surges, droughts);
and
(3) increased production of certain air
pollutants and aeroallergens (spores and
moulds).
(4) Decreases in winter mortality due to milder
winters may compensate for increases in
summer mortality due to the increased
frequency of heatwaves.

Climate change, acting via less direct mechanisms,
would affect the transmission of many infectious
diseases
 Climate change, acting via less direct
mechanisms, would affect the transmission of
many infectious diseases (especially water,
food and vector-borne diseases) and regional
food productivity (especially cereal grains).
 For vector-borne infections, the distribution
and abundance of vector organisms and
intermediate hosts are affected by various
physical (temperature, precipitation, humidity,
surface water and wind) and biotic factors
(vegetation, host species, predators,
competitors, parasites and human
interventions).

Various integrated modelling
studies
 Various integrated modelling studies have been carried
out to forecast the effects.
 It has been found that an increase in ambient
temperature would cause, worldwide, net increases in
the geographical distribution of particular vector
organisms (e.g. malarial mosquitoes) although some
localized decreases also might occur.
 In addition, the temperature related changes in the life-
cycle dynamics of both the vector species and the
pathogenic organisms (flukes, protozoa, bacteria and
viruses) would increase the potential transmission of
many vector-borne diseases such as malaria
(mosquito), dengue fever (mosquito) and leishmaniasis
(sand-fly)—although schistosomiasis (water-snail) may
undergo a net decrease in response to climate change.

The major and distinct impacts
are
1) Direct Temperature Effects,
2) Extreme events,
3) Climate-Sensitive Diseases,
4) Air Quality and
5) Other Health Linkages .
Influences of anthropogenic and
oceanic forcing on recent climate
change have been highlighted by
several workers.

The major five critical health
issues identified are:
 Heat-related illness and death
 Health effects related to extreme
weather events
 Health effects related to air pollution
 Water-borne and food-borne diseases
 Vector-borne and rodent-borne
diseases.

The vulnerable target populations
expected to be affected are:
 Elderly- aging and chronic illness
 Children- behavioral, susceptibility to
illness
 Low-income individuals- poverty is a
risk factor
 Immuno-compromised individuals-
water-borne, vector-borne.

3.2 Heat-Related Illnesses and
Death
 Due to global climate change, more frequent heat
waves are expected to occur in many countries.
 Because the elderly are the most susceptible to dying
from extreme heat, these heat waves pose particular
risks to many old age population.
 People are likely to experience the greatest number of
heat-related deaths and illnesses, which include heat
cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, and stroke.
 Within heat-sensitive regions, urban areas are the most
vulnerable and the threat is intensified by the absence
of nighttime heat relief.
 Milder winters could potentially reduce the current level
of winter deaths.
 In general, however, more research is needed to
understand the relationship between temperature and
winter deaths.

3.2 Health Effects Related to
Extreme Weather Events
 Changes in the frequency, timing, intensity, and duration of
extreme weather events, such as floods and storms, could
have negative health impacts in some countries.
 Potential effects from weather disasters range from acute
trauma and drowning to conditions of unsafe water and
post-traumatic stress disorder.
 The health impacts of floods, storms, and other extreme
weather events.
 These will affect on the natural environment and the local
population.
 The location of high-risk areas are coasts and floodplains.
 All government agencies and non-governmental
organizations should engage in disaster planning, early
warning, and response.
 Climate change and vulnerability also need to have
increased vigilance.

3.3 Health Effects due to Air
Pollution
 Climate change may affect exposure to air
pollutants.
 It can influence the local weather, changing
the distribution and types of airborne
allergens.
 It also will increase both human-driven and
natural emissions.
 Warmer and more variable weather may
cause increases in ground-level ozone.
 These increases could intensify respiratory
diseases by damaging lung tissue, reducing
lung function, and sensitizing the respiratory
tract to other irritants.

 More air conditioning use due to warmer
temperatures could cause an increase
in potentially harmful power plant
emissions.
 Exposure to particulate matter from
these and other combustion-related
sources can aggravate chronic
respiratory and cardiovascular diseases,
alter host defenses, damage lung tissue,
lead to premature death, and possibly
contribute to cancer.
 In addition, changes in green plant
distribution or pollen production could
affect the timing and/or duration of hay
fever and other seasonal allergies.

3.4 Water-Borne and Food-
Borne Diseases
 Climate change and weather variability may pose
threats for water-borne diseases, some food-borne
diseases, and marine and coastal issues, including
harmful algal blooms and ecological disruption.
 Changes in precipitation, temperature, humidity, salinity,
and wind have a measurable effect on the quality of
water used for drinking, recreation, and commerce.
 Heavy rainfall has been associated with water-borne
disease outbreaks in many countries.
 Temperature also influences the occurrence of
bacterial agents, toxic algal blooms (red tides), and
survival of viral pathogens that cause shellfish
poisoning.
 Deficiencies in watershed protection and storm
drainage systems can increase the risk of
contamination events if rainfall increases as projected
with climate change.

Climate change clearly has
health impacts
 Climate change clearly has health impacts which are mostly
related to water.
 Health hazards may be caused by extreme temperatures, an
increase in water temperature, water scarcity, and chemical
and biological contamination of water used for different
purposes (including food production and processing).
 Increasing water scarcity may limit access to water for
drinking water and sanitation, increase the concentration of
pollutants, reduce the self-cleaning capacity of sewers and
limit the ability of natural ecosystems to assimilate wastes.
 Flooding may cause contamination and, especially in large
cities, storm-water overflows and pollution.
 In poor and rural areas, environmental health hazards are
often even more significant, as water supply and sanitation
infrastructure is lacking, in a bad state, or because small
service suppliers cannot cope with adverse weather
conditions.

3.5 Vector-Borne and Rodent-
Borne Diseases
 Vector-borne diseases result from infections
transmitted to humans and other animals by
blood-feeding insects, such as mosquitoes, ticks,
and fleas.
 Most vector-borne diseases exhibit a distinct
seasonal pattern, which clearly suggests that
they are weather sensitive.
 Rodent-borne diseases are less directly affected
by temperature.
 However, the impact of weather on disease-
carrying rodent populations (for example,
increased food supply or exposure during
flooding) can affect transmission of diseases
such as hantavirus and flea-borne plague.

 In general, disease transmission by
insects and rodents is a complex
process and unique for each disease.
 Population characteristics, human
behavior, and ecological factors play a
critical role in determining when and
where disease occurs, which makes it
unlikely that increasing temperatures
alone will have a major impact on
tropical diseases.
 There is even greater uncertainty
regarding diseases that cycle through
animals and can also infect humans,
such as Lyme disease and mosquito-
carried encephalitis viruses.

4.0 Research Areas
 A lot of research is expected to be
carried out on the impact assessment
of global climate changes.
 The following are the research areas
(Table.1 )were among those identified
as priorities by the expert health
assessment team of IPCC:

Table.1 Research areas of health risk
assessments
1. Research areas on heat-
related illness and death
• Improved prediction, warning, and response systems
• Relationship of weather to influenza and other causes of
winter mortality
• Techniques to enhance urban design and energy systems
1. Research areas on health
impacts from extreme
weather events
• Improved surveillance for long-term health effects from
stormsTechniques to enhance prediction, warning, and
response
• Investigation of past impacts and effectiveness of warnings
1. Research areas on air
pollution-related health
effects
• Relationship between weather and air pollution
concentrations
• Relationships between exposure patterns and health effects
• Effect of weather on vegetative emissions and allergens
(such as pollen)
1. Research areas on water-
borne and food-borne
diseases
• Improved monitoring of weather/ecological effects on
marine-related disease
• Impacts of land use and agriculture on water quality
• Enhanced monitoring and mapping of the movement of
contaminants in surface water
• and groundwater, combined with improved monitoring for
human disease.
1. Research areas on vector-
borne and rodent-borne
diseases
• Improved rapid diagnostic tests, especially in the field
• Enhanced disease surveillance strategies
• Linkages between climate, altered ecology, and infectious
disease transmission.

4.1 Climate Risk Management
and Health

The International Research Institute for Climate and
Society of Columbia University has carried out some
detailed analysis.
 It has been reported that malnutrition and infectious
diseases may kill more than 15 million people and will
sicken tens of millions more, mostly in developing
regions of the world in a decade.
 This will have devastating and lasting effects on
societies and their economies because people become
too sick to work, attend school or care for their children.
 It is also to be noted that many of these diseases are
climate-sensitive, occurring only in places or times of
year when conditions are suitable for transmission.

 By having a scientific understanding of
how climate information can be used
to predict disease dynamics, health
officials and decision makers can
target interventions in a more
appropriate and timely way and use
scarce resources more intelligently
and preemptively.
 It is alarming to see that more than
124 million Africans live in areas prone
to malaria epidemics.

 The epidemics occur when
environmental conditions such as
temperature, rainfall and humidity
become favorable for transmission.
 But malaria, along with cholera,
meningitis and dengue fever, are only a
few of the 14 communicable diseases
recently identified as being climate-
sensitive by the World Health
Organization.
 It is necessary to adopt certain important
strategies to control the health effects of
climate change.
 The Table.2 shows the identified
strategies for future implementation.

Table. 2. Strategies to combat the health-
related issues of Global Climate change.
1. Heat-Related
Illnesses and Death
• individual behavioral changes, including
increased fluid intake and increased use of air
conditioning.
• development of community-wide heat emergency
plans.
1. Health Effects
Related to Extreme
Weather Events
• Continued refinements to public early warning
systems
• Improved engineering for flood control
• Enhanced zoning and building codes.
1. Air Pollution-Related
Health Effects
• Improved early warning systems for air quality
• Increased use of mass transit
• Better urban planning
• Improved pollution control policies
1. Water-Borne and
Food-Borne Diseases
• Improved surveillance for infectious diseases
• Enhanced water systems and improved water
systems engineering
• Watershed protection policies.
1. Vector-Borne and
Rodent-Borne
Diseases
• Improved disease surveillance
• Enhanced insect-control programs
• Vaccine development and improved protections
for travelers to disease endemic areas.

4.2 Recommendations for further studies
1. Expertise from many disciplines is required to solve these important issues
related to climate change. Some of the major implementation strategies are as
follows:
2. Early Warning Systems: This are required for Malaria and other Climate
Sensitive Diseases. Disease distribution and seasonality are closely related to
seasonal characteristics of the climate. Online mapping products should be
made freely accessible on Data Libraries, to illustrate models of climate
suitability for seasonal endemic diseases like malaria and recent climate
conditions.
3. Risk mapping: Risk models, created with field epidemiological and
environmental data, will provide us with much-needed tools for assessing health
risks. Dynamic maps and tools can reflect seasonal changes in ground
conditions, permitting decision makers to adapt strategies and responses that
are needed.
4. More Sustainable development Research activities: These can bring out
the best science to manage the climate related risks in various sectors and bring
out better systems in agriculture, food security, water resources, and health.
5. Regional assessments of health impacts, through modeling methods:
Moving from large-scale climate projections to smaller spatial scales requires
the application of ‘downscaling’ techniques that bring additional information to
bear on the region in question. Downscaling methods fall into two broad
categories: dynamical downscaling, using high-resolution, regional climate

Recommendations for further
studies
6. More studies in Health and regional climate change: Two main
climatic impacts on health at a regional scale emerge as direct
heat-related mortality and morbidity, and a climate-mediated
change in the incidence of infectious diseases. Studies of climatic
influences on infectious diseases have to be focused. Dengue
fever, diarrhoeal diseases (food and water borne) and nutrition-
related illnesses were all shown to be linked to climate and have
the potential to worsen with increasing climate change and
variability.
7. Climate sensitive health risks/CSD reporting systems: These
are to be done with prediction modeling. Exposure distribution
and exposure-response relationship.
8. Continuous research on Land use and land cover change.
These changes can magnify the effects of extreme climatic
events, both on direct health outcomes (for example, heat
mortality), and on ecologically mediated infectious diseases in any
region of the world. Therefore, to assess accurately future
climate-change impacts on health, future projections of land-use
change must be considered. Investigation of exposure-response
relationships from a wider climatic and socioeconomic
development could improve the accuracy of estimations.

Recommendations for further
studies
10. Promote awareness groups to stop some human
activities: Major environmental, occupational,
behavioural and lifestyle risk factors are to be
considered including: smoking, alcohol consumption,
unsafe sex, diet, air pollution, water and sanitation,
and climate change.
11. Research on Malnutrition issues - Malnutrition is
considered as the single most important risk factor to
global health. While multiple biological and social
factors affect the influence of malnutrition, the
fundamental determinant is the availability of staple
foods.
12. Studies on longer-term Human survival and health
effects: These are needed particularly for those
resulting from population displacement or drought
periods and their effects on food production.

5.0 Conclusion
 Throughout the world, the prevalence of some diseases
and other threats to human health depend largely on
local climate.
 Extreme temperatures can lead directly to loss of life,
while climate-related disturbances in ecological
systems, such as changes in the range of infective
parasites, can indirectly impact the incidence of serious
infectious diseases. In addition, warm temperatures
can increase air and water pollution, which in turn harm
human health.
 Human health is strongly affected by social, political,
economic, environmental and technological factors,
including urbanization, affluence, scientific
developments, individual behavior and individual
vulnerability (e.g., genetic makeup, nutritional status,
emotional well-being, age, gender and economic
status).

Conclusion ……
 The extent and nature of climate change impacts on
human health vary by region, by relative vulnerability of
population groups, by the extent and duration of
exposure to climate change itself and by society’s ability
to adapt to or cope with the change.
 Human beings are exposed to climate change directly
through changing weather patterns (for example, more
intense and frequent extreme events) and indirectly
through changes in water, air, food quality and quantity,
ecosystems, agriculture, and economy.
 Given the complexity of factors that influence human
health, assessing health impacts related to climate
change poses a difficult challenge. It is necessary to
combat the impacts of Global Climate Change through
various strategies as highlighted in this work.

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 IPCC Expert Meeting on the Future of the Task Group on
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