Climate Crisis, Our Health Crisis

Rising temperatures due to the climate crisis have widened the spread of infectious diseases, caused more deaths, and driven food insecurity.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in Krisis Iklim, Krisis Kesehatan Kita

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Officers carried out fogging or fumigation at the housing complex in Nusa Loka BSD, Lengkong Gudang Timur, Serpong, South Tangerang, Monday (21/8/2023). Fogging is carried out to prevent the spread of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) which is transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Health is, for the first time, on the agenda of the United Nations annual climate summit at COP28. This is a good progress, but time is running out as the climate crisis has become a health crisis with rising temperatures expanding the spread of infectious diseases, claiming more lives and promoting food insecurity.

The Presidency of COP28 United Arab Emirates (UAE) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated Health Day in the UN Climate Conference COP28, which took place in Dubai from November 30th to December 12th, 2023. More than 120 countries signed the UAE Declaration on Climate and Health, on Sunday (12/3/2023).

This declaration focuses on gathering support, rallying action, and mobilizing funding to strengthen the resilience of the healthcare system. In tandem with this, the UAE announced a funding commitment of 1 billion US dollars to enhance the implementation of climate activities that focus on health.

Also read: COP28 Dubai Determines the Fate of the Earth

Despite the celebration of World Health Day and positive developments in funding, the opportunity to protect the health of people worldwide is considered increasingly limited. The worsening global climate crisis has a faster and more difficult-to-prevent negative impact on human health and well-being.

Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Sunday (3/12/2023) that after COP27 passed without serious discussion about health, it is now too late to focus on health at COP28. "There is no doubt that health is the strongest reason for taking climate action. It has been too long for health to be a side note in climate discussions," said Tedros.

The journal The Lancet in November 2023 published a special report on the impact of climate change on health. This report reveals that there are at least three main impacts of climate that are detrimental to human health.

Exposure to extreme temperatures

High temperature can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and heat stroke, which occurs when the body can no longer regulate its temperature through sweating. This can lead to multi-organ failure and death.

People aged over 65 are the most vulnerable group to this extreme heat exposure. This age group has difficulty cooling down as their sweat glands are less sensitive to chemical signals from the brain. They are also more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases and at risk of death.

In addition, infants under one year of age are also highly vulnerable to the danger of extreme heat. This is because their body temperature regulation system has not yet fully developed.

AFP/DON MACKINNON

The community urges their children to find a place to cool down and avoid extreme temperatures due to the heatwave that has hit Canada.

The Lancet report states that deaths due to hot weather in people aged over 65 years increased by 85 percent in 2013–2022 compared to 1991–2000. In Africa, for every 100,000 deaths there were 11 percent more people aged over 65 who died from extreme heat during 2017–2022 compared to the initial period of 2000–2005. A similar increase occurred in Europe by 8.8 percent and South America and Central America by 7 percent in the same period.

Nicholas H Wolff and team have also reported the impact of rising temperatures on mortality in Indonesia in the journal Lancet Planetary Health (2021). The study, which focused on Berau, East Kalimantan, stated that the combination of massive forest clearing and global warming caused temperatures in Berau to increase by 0.95 degrees Celsius in 16 years. This increase in daily temperatures in Berau has increased 7.3–8.5 percent of deaths from all causes or 101–118 additional deaths per year in 2018.

Widespread infectious disease

Global warming also increases the health burden through the widespread spread of infectious diseases to new areas. For example, malaria, caused by the parasites Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax, which is transmitted to humans when the parasite-carrying Anopheles mosquito bites a human. These mosquitoes breed in warm temperatures and lay their eggs in still water.

Climate and health scientists Rachel Lowe and Martin Lotto Batista at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center in Spain in the journal Nature on December 1 2023 estimated that almost 10 percent of the world's land was once too dry or too cold for malaria transmission P falciparumduring 1951–1960 became suitable for malaria transmission in 2013–2022. In the same period, about 17 percent of areas previously unsuitable for malaria transmissionP. vivaxbecame endemic.

Also read: WHO Recommends Second New Vaccine to Prevent Malaria

An area is considered endemic for malaria transmission if it has rainfall, humidity, and temperature that allow malaria to spread for at least one month per year, on average over a decade. Warmer conditions also increase the rate of spread of viral diseases such as dengue fever, zika and chikungunya, and expand the reach of dangerous Vibrio bacteria.

A report in the journal Nature on October 31 2023 showed that fever attacks had spread among people in Europe to areas that had never been affected by this disease before. This disease was not previously endemic to mainland Europe. Most incidents or outbreaks originate from travelers who were infected abroad and brought the virus back.

However, this year, a combination of warm weather conditions and an increase in the number of imported cases has triggered a surge in local infections carried by the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which has colonized southern Europe. The presence of mosquitoesA. albopictuswhich is capable of transmitting the virus, creating a local infection.

KOMPAS/ADHITYA RAMADHAN

A child in Timika City, Mimika Regency, Papua cried while having their blood sample taken by officers from the Malaria Center of PT Freeport Indonesia on Wednesday (25/10/2017). Blood sample examinations are usually carried out together with health education and house wall spraying with insecticide.

When infected travelers are bitten by these mosquitoes after they return, the insects now carry the virus in their bloodstream and can transmit the disease to other people they bite. MosquitoesA. albopictusbreeds at temperatures between 15 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius and can breed in small amounts of standing water.

Increasing food crisis

When the world heats up, more and more people will lose access to safe and nutritious food. Climate change worsens food insecurity by reducing crop yields and affecting the working capacity of farmers. Food security of communities that rely on marine resources also declines due to rising sea surface temperatures, decreasing ocean oxygen levels, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching that destroy fisheries resources.

Globally, 735 million people will face starvation by 2022 and 3.1 billion people (42 percent) will not be able to afford healthy food by 2021. These figures will increase if the temperature continues to rise.

Global efforts to link climate change to health and the health benefits of climate solutions can generate support for climate action.

Dasgupta and other environmental economist, Elizabeth Robinson from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in London, have created a mathematical model using past data on how frequently heat waves and droughts have affected food insecurity. Using this model, they estimate that over 127 million people will experience moderate to severe food insecurity due to climate change in 2021 compared to a scenario without global warming.

KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Crop failure caused by drought has led to food insecurity in North Central Timor, which in turn has resulted in malnutrition, March 2020.

In scenarios like this, the loss of the workforce due to hot weather is expected to increase by 50 percent, and heat waves alone could cause 524.9 million people to experience moderate to severe food insecurity from 2041 to 2060, exacerbating the risk of global malnutrition.

Meanwhile, the Lancet report states that, compared to 1981–2010, the number of higher heatwave days associated with moderate or severe food insecurity has increased by 4.03 percent in 2021. This increase in the frequency of droughts has resulted in food insecurity was 1.78 percent higher, equivalent to around 127 million more people experiencing food insecurity.

Based on a scenario that is in line with the limit of temperature increase up to 2 degrees Celsius, a total of 524.9 million people are estimated to be at risk of food insecurity in 2041-2060 compared to the baseline data in 1995-2014.

Climate action

The Lancet report about the health crisis that is already present and will strengthen along with global warming is indeed worrying. With 1,337 tons of CO2 emissions emitted every second, delays will exacerbate risks to human health and survival.

However, there is no room for surrender. A report from the researchers at the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication and Wellcome on Monday (4/12/2023) showed that global efforts to link climate change to health and health benefits from climate solutions can generate support for climate action.

Also read: World Agrees to Accelerate Joint Climate Action

Neha Dewan, a senior advisor at Wellcome, said, "We are witnessing drastic impacts of climate change on health every day, especially among the most vulnerable communities. Understanding how the public receives messages about climate and health is important in raising awareness of these risks and taking action to combat climate change."

Message about climate change based on health information should serve as a strong driver for community engagement in climate action. Communications that touch on climate change and health also have the potential to build support for ambitious climate targets and policies that protect and benefit human and planetary health. The climate crisis is our health crisis.