This document discusses the effects of climate change on human health. It describes how burning fossil fuels is the main driver of climate change by generating greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Climate change can directly impact health through extreme weather events and indirectly by undermining social determinants of health. The most vulnerable populations like the poor, elderly and children suffer the most. Impacts include increased heat-related illnesses, worsening air and water quality, changing disease vectors and mental health issues. India has established the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health to create awareness, strengthen health systems and conduct research on these issues.

1. Effect of climate change on human
health

2. Learning Objectives
• At the end of this session the learner will be able to
describe the effects of climate change on human health
and how to handle these.

3. What Is Climate Change?
• Climate change refers to long-term shifts in
temperatures and weather patterns. These
shifts may be natural, such as through
variations in the solar cycle.
• But since the 1800s, human activities have
been the main driver of climate change
primarily due to burning fossil fuels like
coal, oil and gas.

4. What Is Climate Change?
Global warming
• Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse
gas emissions that act like a blanket
wrapped around the Earth, trapping the
sun’s heat and raising temperatures.

5. Greenhouse Gases
• Carbon dioxide
• Methane

6. Sources of Carbon dioxide.
• Burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and
natural gas.
• Cement production
• Clearing land and forests

7. Sources of Methane
• Landfills for garbage
• Agriculture.
• Oil and natural gas systems
• Coal mining
• Wastewater treatment
• Certain industrial processes.

8. Climatic Factors
1. Warming temperatures
2. Water quality
3. Air quality
4. Changes in precipitation
5. Increases in the frequency or intensity of
some extreme weather events
6. Rising sea levels.

9. How Climate change influence health ?
Directly-
1. Death and illness from increasingly
frequent extreme weather events, such as
heatwaves, storms and floods.
2. Disruption of food systems
3. Increases in zoonoses
4. Increases in food-, water- and vector-
borne diseases.
5. Mental health issues.

10. How Climate change influence health ?
Indirectly by undermining many of the social
determinants for good health, such as-
1. Livelihoods
2. Equality
3. Access to health care and social support structures.

11. Who suffers the most?
The most vulnerable and disadvantaged-
1. People in developing countries
2. Women
3. Children
4. Ethnic minorities
5. Poor communities
6. Migrants or displaced persons
7. Older populations
8. People with underlying health conditions.

12. Warming temperatures
Exposure to extreme heat can lead to -
1. Heat stroke and dehydration
2. Cardiovascular
3. Respiratory
4. Cerebrovascular disease

13. Warming temperatures
More vulnerable-
1. Outdoor workers
2. Student
3. Athletes
4. Homeless people
More exposed to extreme heat because they
spend more time outdoors

14. Warming temperatures
More vulnerable-
1. Low-income households and older adults may lack
access to air conditioning .
2. Young children, pregnant women, older adults, and
people with certain medical conditions are less able to
regulate their body temperature and can therefore be
more vulnerable to extreme heat.
3. Urban areas are hotter than rural.
4. Heat waves are also often accompanied by periods of
stagnant air, leading to increases in air pollution

15. Air Quality Impacts
• Changes in the climate affect the air we
breathe both indoors and outdoors-
• Asthma attacks and other respiratory and
cardiovascular health effects.
• Wildfires, which are expected to continue to
increase in number and severity as the
climate changes, create smoke and other
unhealthy air pollutants.

16. Air Quality Impacts
• Increases in Ground-level ozone can
damage lung tissue, reduce lung function,
and inflame airways.
• Changes in Particulate Matter- Inhaling
fine particles can lead
– Lung cancer
– Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD),
– Cardiovascular disease.

17. Changes in Allergens and Asthma Triggers
• Rising carbon dioxide concentrations and
temperatures may also lead to-
• Earlier flowering
• More flowers
• Increased pollen levels
• Earlier and longer pollen season

18. Impacts from Extreme Weather Events
• Extreme precipitation
• Flooding
• Drought
• Storms

19. Impacts from Extreme Weather Events
• Reducing the availability of safe food and drinking water.
• Damaging roads and bridges, disrupting access to hospitals
and pharmacies.
• Interrupting communication, utility, and health care
services.
• Contributing to carbon monoxide poisoning from improper
use of portable electric generators during and after storms.
• Increasing stomach and intestinal illness, particularly
following power outages
• Creating or worsening mental health impacts such as
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD

20. Impacts from Extreme Weather Events
• Emergency evacuations pose health risks to older
adults.
• Loss of medical records, medications, and medical
equipment.
• Individuals with disabilities are unable to access
evacuation routes, have difficulty in understanding
or receiving warnings of impending danger, or
have limited ability to communicate their needs.

21. Climate-sensitive Infections
1. Vector borne
2. Airborne
3. Water and food borne

22. Vector borne Infections
• Malaria
• Dengue fever
• Lyme disease
• Rocky Mountain
spotted fever
• Encephalitis: St.
Louis, Murray Valley,
Western Equine
• Rift Valley fever
• Ross River fever
• Ehrlichiosis
• Hantavirus pulmonary
syndrome
• Leishmaniasis
• African
trypanosomiasis
• Tularemia
• Plague
• Onchoceriasis (river
blindness)

23. Climate-sensitive Airborne Infections
• Meningococcal meningitis
• Coccidioidomycosis
• Respiratory syncytial virus (colds)
• Legionnaires' disease
• Influenza

24. Water and food borne Infections
• Cholera
• Other non-
cholera Vibrio spp..(i.e
., V. vulnificus, V.
parahaemolyticus)
• Leptospirosis
• Schistosomiasis
• Sea bather's eruption
• Giardiasis
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Human enteric viruses
(Enteroviruses,.Norwa
lk and Norwalk-like
viruses)
• Campylobacteriosis
• Cyclospora
cayetanensis
• Salmonella enteritidis

25. Food Safety and Nutrition
• Global warming
• Changes in rainfall
• Rising concentrations of CO2
Can affect food production and quality.
• Extreme weather events can also disrupt or
slow the distribution of food.

26. Mental Health
• Any changes in a person's physical health or
surrounding environment can also have
serious impacts on their mental health.
• Experiencing an extreme weather event can
cause stress and other mental health
consequence
• Loss of loved ones or home.
• Individuals with mental illness are
especially vulnerable to extreme heat.

27. Mental Health
• Even the perceived threat of climate change
(for example from reading or watching
news reports about climate change) can
influence stress responses and mental
health.
•

28. Mental Health
• Some groups of people are at higher risk for
mental health impacts-
1. Children and older adults
2. Pregnant and post-partum women
3. People with pre-existing mental illness
4. People with low incomes
5. Emergency workers.

29. Global effects
• Declines in human health in other countries
can affect India through trade, migration,
and immigration and has implications for
national security.

30. So What?
• There is a lot we can do to prepare for and
adapt to these changes—
• Establishing early warning systems for heat
waves and other extreme events
• Taking steps to reduce vulnerabilities
among populations of concern
• Raising awareness among healthcare
professionals
• Infrastructure for anticipated future changes
in climate.

31. So What?
• Understanding the threats that climate
change poses to human health is the first
step in working together to lower risks and
be prepared.

32. NPCCHH
• National Programme on Climate Change
& Human Health (NPCCHH)

33. NPCCHH.
• Vision: Strengthening healthcare services
for all the citizens of India especially
vulnerable groups like children, women and
marginalized populations against climate-
sensitive illnesses.
• Goal: To reduce morbidity, mortality,
injuries and health vulnerability due to
climate variability and extreme weathers.

34. NPCCHH:Objectives
• To create awareness among the general population
(vulnerable community), healthcare providers and
policymakers regarding the impacts of climate
change on human health.
• To strengthen the capacity of the healthcare
system to reduce illnesses/ diseases due to
variability in climate.
• To strengthen health preparedness and response by
performing situational analysis at national/ state/
district/ below district levels.
•

35. NPCCHH:Objectives
• To develop partnerships and create synchrony/
synergy with other missions and ensure that health
is adequately represented in the climate change
agenda in the country.
• To strengthen research capacity to fill the evidence
gap on climate change impact on human health.

36. • https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tzygxtaj75c
a2j05c37nt/Effect-of-climate-change-on-
human-
health.pptx?dl=0&rlkey=qrnldhjekwrdlm3z
nnaa3119i

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