ICS Estudos e Relatórios Nº1 / 2019

ICS E S T U D O S e R E L A T Ó R I O S 2019 2. Climate Change-Health Policies – a Review Climate change impacts on health Over the last 50 years, anthropogenic exploitation of fossil fuels has released significant quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which trapped excessive heat in the lower atmosphere and affected the global climate. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014) concludes that in the last 130 years, the world has warmed by approximately 0.85oC. Each of the previous three decades has been successively warmer than any preceding decade since 1850 (IPCC, 2014). With such significant atmospheric warming, sea levels have been rising, glaciers melting, and precipitation patterns are also changing. Extreme weather events are becoming more intense and frequent. These symptoms manifested by the Earth's natural environment also affect the social and environmental determinants of human health - clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food, and secure shelter. One of the primary impacts of climate change on health is extreme heat. Extreme high air temperatures contribute directly to deaths resulting from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, especially among the elderly. For example, more than 70,000 excess deaths were recorded during the 2003 European summer heatwave (Robine et al., 2008). Extreme rainfall and drought can impact our health. In the U.S., floods are the second deadliest weather-related hazards – second only to heat (American Public Health Association). Besides, climate change also decreases the quality of the air we breathe and increases the risk of vector- borne diseases, warmer water, and flooding, as well as wildfires prompted by warmer and drier conditions, which could increase the risk of illness or injury. Towards a warmer climate in the future, data from the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2018) tell us that: ● Assuming continued economic growth and health progress, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, 38,000 due to heat exposure in elderly, 48,000 due to diarrhoea, 60,000 due to malaria, and 95,000 due to childhood undernutrition.