Climate Change: The Urgent Need for Global Health Strategies to Counter Adverse Impacts on Human Health

Authors

  • Prof. Andrew John Macnab Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Dept. of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35898/ghmj-811205

Keywords:

Climate change, Global warming, Air pollution, Climate adaptation, Health risks

Abstract

The environmental consequences of climate change have become a global health emergency. Reports and reviews continue to document multiple health impacts from increasing temperatures, rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events like severe drought, flooding and wildfires. The consequences of global warming on human health include heat-related morbidity and mortality, an increase in vector borne and infectious diseases, greater severity of respiratory diseases, adverse nutritional effects from food insecurity, higher rates of injury and multiple effects from financial, educational, social and psychological stressors. The extent to which climate change is impacting human health and lives is such that action by the public health community is urgently required to provide public education and define effective intervention, prevention and treatment strategies. Only in this way can the initiatives and policies be generated that are required to inform and engage everyone in society, and make people aware that action is needed to counter the dangers to health posed by climate change. 

Published: 05 February 2025.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Prof. Andrew John Macnab, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Dept. of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine

     

References

Bangkok Post. (2025). Unsafe levels of smog in 64 of 77 Thai provinces. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2952671/unsafe-levels-of-smog-in-64-of-77-thai-provinces. Accessed: Feb 4, 2025.

Brändlin, A. (2024). COP29. This year is on track to be the hottest ever. https://www.dw.com/en/cop29-this-year-is-on-track-to-be-the-hottest-ever/a-70738752. Accessed: Feb 4, 2025.

Macnab, A.J, Besigye, I., & Tusubira, B. (2024) Sexual and gender related violence against girls in Sub-Saharan Africa: A need for effective interventions. Academia Mental Health and Wellbeing. 1(3). https://doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB7365

Romanello, M., Di Napoli, C., Green, C., Kennard, H., Lampard, P., Scamman, D., Walawender, M., Ali, Z., Ameli, N., Ayeb-Karlsson, S. & Beggs, P.J. (2023). The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms. The Lancet, 402(10419), 2346-2394. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01859-7.

Rowlatt, J. Tackling climate change. 2022. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cn5e8npr2l3t

Turunen, H., Sormunen, M., Jourdan, D., von Seelen, J., & Buijs, G. (2017). Health promoting schools—a complex approach and a major means to health improvement. Health promotion international, 32(2), 177-184. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax001.

van Daalen, K. R., Tonne, C., Semenza, J. C., Rocklöv, J., Markandya, A., & Dasandi, N. (2024). The 2024 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: unprecedented warming demands unprecedented action. The Lancet Public Health, 9(7), e495 - e522. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00055-0.

Wang, H., & Horton, R. (2015). Tackling climate change: the greatest opportunity for global health. The Lancet, 386(10006), 1798-1799. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60931-X.

Watts, N., Amann, M., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Belesova, K., Bouley, T., Boykoff, M. et al. (2018). The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health. The Lancet, 391(10120), 581-630. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32596-6.

World Meteorological Organization, Jan 12, 2023. https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/past-eight-years-confirmed-be-eight-warmest-record. Accessed: Feb 4, 2025.

Downloads

Published

2025-03-03

How to Cite

Macnab, A. J. (2025). Climate Change: The Urgent Need for Global Health Strategies to Counter Adverse Impacts on Human Health. GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal), 8(1), 39–42. https://doi.org/10.35898/ghmj-811205

Plaudit

Share

Similar Articles

1-10 of 116

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>