Climate change could unravel decades of progress in human health, says WMO

Climate change threatens to unravel decades of progress on improving human health through extreme heat, air pollution, disruption of food systems and the spread of disease, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said.

These effects will be strongest in Africa, where there is less monitoring of approaching extremes and which is projected to see 50% of the excess deaths from climate change in the future.

Across the world, less than a quarter of governments use climate data to monitor health risks such as extreme heat, which is the most deadly effect from the warming atmosphere, the WMO said.

Between 2000 and 2019, around 489,000 people are thought to have been killed by extreme heat, 45% of which happened in Asia and 36% in Europe.

It is estimated that in 2022 alone, more than 60,000 people died in Europe through the heatwaves, with over 3,000 of those in the UK.

Deaths from extreme heat are most likely to occur in Central and South America, southern Europe, southern and Southeast Asia and Africa, with estimates that there could be as many as 30 times more heat-related deaths if the global average temperature continues to rise.

The WMO’s state of climate services for health report, which over 40 organisations around the world helped put together, found that scientific knowledge and resources can help protect people against climate extremes, but this is not being sufficiently used.

By Danny Halpin, PA Environment Correspondent

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/medical/climate-change-could-unravel-decades-of-progress-in-human-health-says-wmo/ar-AA1jguSQ