Health Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change is altering the distribution and intensity of extreme weather events, with profound implications for human health. Elevated ambient temperatures and more frequent heatwaves increase heat-related mortality and morbidity, exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and impair labour productivity. Conversely, milder winters may reduce cold-related deaths, though gains are unevenly distributed. Changing precipitation patterns and warmer climates facilitate the spread of vector-borne diseases, threaten food and water security, and affect mental health through climate anxiety and displacement. Economic disruptions, notably via global supply chains, can amplify health losses by undermining access to essential goods and services. Vulnerable groups—including the elderly, those with pre-existing illnesses, low-income populations and outdoor workers—bear a disproportionate burden. Adaptation measures such as early warning systems, urban cooling, and community health programmes are critical to mitigate these risks and to build resilience in health systems worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have quantified the multifaceted health and economic toll of rising temperatures. One analysis integrates climate projections with epidemiological and economic models to estimate mid-century impacts of heat stress on global gross domestic product. It finds that health losses account for over a third of the projected economic damage, with developing regions in South-Central Africa and West Africa most severely affected. Supply-chain disruptions further magnify losses in manufacturing-intensive economies. Another investigation of Europe’s summer of 2022 reports approximately 62 000 excess deaths during the hottest season on record, with the highest absolute toll in Italy, Spain and Germany and disproportionately greater rates among older women. These findings underscore the urgent need to bolster heat-surveillance platforms, refine prevention plans and implement long-term adaptation strategies to protect at-risk populations.

Health Impacts of Climate Change publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in health impacts of climate change across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ambient temperature: The temperature of the surrounding outdoor air, which affects human thermal stress.

Excess mortality: The number of deaths observed above a baseline expectation, attributable to a specific hazard such as heat.

Heat-related mortality: Deaths directly caused or aggravated by elevated temperatures or heatwaves.

Shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs): Scenarios describing potential future trajectories of societal development and greenhouse gas emissions, used to model climate and health outcomes.

References

1. Global supply chains amplify economic costs of future extreme heat risk. Nature (2024).
2. Heat-related mortality in Europe during the summer of 2022. Nature Medicine (2023).
3. Nocturnal heat exposure and stroke risk. European Heart Journal (2024).
4. Projections of temperature-related excess mortality under climate change scenarios. The Lancet Planetary Health (2017).
5. Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019: a three-stage modelling study. The Lancet Planetary Health (2021).