The link between climate and health

According to Wellcome more than four in ten people live in parts of the world that are highly vulnerable to climate change, according to latest report from the IPCC mentioned above. The crisis is a clear threat to people’s health, lives and livelihoods.

Amongst the things they point out is the fact that climate change is already affecting health. They say "The scale of the impact is vast with millions of people around the world already facing the consequences of climate change daily."

Apart from increased difficulty in producing food in many cases, increased occurrences of diseases are also having notable effects. And - of course - these and other factors take an increasing toll on peoples' mental health.

They highlght some key actions to take now to limit further increases in these impacts, and emphasise the importance of investment and a co-operative approach.

How to live with climate change

National Geographic discuss some key effects and risks here, and also highlights some practical solutions and risk mitigations.

Amongst the risks they highlight are these:

• Disabling of medical facilities due to power outages;
• Undernutrition, hunger and higher food prices due to crop failures;
• Higher temperatures increasing the rate of spread of some infectious diseases;
• Mental health issues arising from traumatic events such as floods;
• Increases in heat-related illnesses;
• Shortages of fresh water due to sea livel rises and drought.