THE heavy burden of disease associated with climate change is overwhelming economies and smothering societies in developing countries. Immediate flood devastation and the long-term impact of droughts and water shortage trigger economic instability, compound poverty and threaten human health. Besides causing injury and disease, floods, droughts, and hurricanes also lead to mental health issues. The findings of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report confirmed that such extreme weather events “directly worsen mental health and well-being and increase anxiety”.

Every extreme weather event and each decimal of a degree rise in global temperatures increase the risk of further spread of disease and reversal of global health gains of previous decades. Poor communities bear the brunt, facing an increase in deaths and ailments from heatwaves and alarming levels of polluted air and water as well as the spread of vector-borne diseases like dengue. Seven million people die prematurely each year due to air pollution alone.

According to the WHO, climate change is expected to cause around 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. Matters will worsen if stronger,........

© Dawn