Numbers that should worry us. “Record threat”

This is the ninth edition of the report in which scientists from around the world analyze the threats to human health resulting from climate change. In the latest publication regarding 2023, the authors emphasize that the world has come dangerously close to exceeding the increase in average global temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius. “The resulting extreme climate events are increasingly taking lives and livelihoods around the world,” the authors of the document write in the introduction.

As recalled, 2023 was the hottest year on record, with severe droughts, deadly heat waves and devastating forest fires recorded, storms and floods. This resulted, among other things, in catastrophic consequences for people's health and lives.

– Climate change is not a distant danger, but an immediate threat to health – said the head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The report shows that 48 percent of land areas experienced drought last year for at least a month. As emphasized, this is the second highest result since at least 1951. In addition, scientists recorded an additional 50 days with temperatures that threatened human life.

– Last year once again broke records for climate change with extreme heatwaves, deadly weather events and devastating wildfires affecting people around the world. No person or economy on the planet is immune to the health threats of climate change, said Dr Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown at the University of London.

The effects of long-term heat particularly affected seniors. In 2023, by a record 167%. the number of deaths among people over 65 has increased compared to the 1990s.

Another problem was food insecurity related to global warming. “The increasing number of droughts and heatwaves is associated with an increase in the number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. The scale of this increase is 151 million people in 124 countries assessed in 2022. This is the highest level recorded so far,” it noted.

Experts also concluded that the changing climate favors the transmission of dangerous infectious diseases, such as dengue, malaria, West Nile fever and vibriosis. People are now exposed to them in places that were not previously exposed to such risks. Warmer and drier weather also resulted in more sand and dust storms, contributing to a 31 percent increase in the number of people exposed to dangerously high concentrations of particulate matter.

– Record high emissions pose a record threat to our health. We must cure the disease of climate inaction, commented UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The authors of the study also emphasized that climate change has an impact on our sleep and physical activity. In 2023, heat exposure led to a record six percent. more lost sleep time in 2023 compared to the average from 1986–2005.

Additionally, due to high temperatures, people engaging in outdoor physical activity were exposed to heat stress (moderate or greater) for a record 27.7 percent. more than the average in the 1990s

Polish experts commenting on the results of the latest Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report emphasize that the effects of climate change are already significantly visible in our country.

– This phenomenon also poses new challenges for us, such as the fight against vector infectious diseases – Lyme disease, which is already popular in Poland, and West Nile fever, the first case of which was detected in our country in a non-travelling person last week – said the doctor. Olga Wdowiczak, environmental health specialist at HEAL Polska.

According to the specialist, the negative health effects of heat waves or extreme weather phenomena amount to tens of thousands of hospitalizations and premature deaths annually, which also leads to very high external health costs.

– Climate change is becoming an increasingly serious problem in Poland – added Wdowiczak.