Doctors warn climate change is now 'the greatest global health threat facing the world'


Every year, the Lancet medical journal publishes its countdown on health and climate change, and the 2021 edition shows that global warming caused by human activities is threatening the health of everyone in myriad ways.
Published Wednesday, the report was put together by more than 100 doctors and health experts. They wrote that climate change is "the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century, but it is also the greatest opportunity to redefine the social and environmental determinants of health."
Hotter temperatures have caused problems in all corners of the globe. In the U.S. this summer, extreme heat led to the death of elderly people without air conditioning and farm workers in the fields. Other threats are more subtle — in tropical climates, insects that carry disease are multiplying and on the move. Heavy flooding is contributing to an increased risk of waterborne diseases like cholera, and wildfire smoke causes breathing problems, with the wind carrying smoke for miles. Severe droughts could lead to food shortages and starvation.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If bold action is taken worldwide to cut greenhouse gas emissions and invest in clean energy, millions of unnecessary deaths could be averted, the report states. Renee Salas, an emergency medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, contributed to the report, and told The Washington Post that "lowering greenhouse gas emissions is a prescription. The oath I took as a doctor is to protect the health of my patients. Demanding action on climate change is how I can do that."
World leaders will soon meet in Glasgow for a United Nations climate change summit, and dozens of public health experts will attend the gathering in an effort to convince them to take aggressive measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions. What is decided at meetings like this will either "lock humanity into an increasingly extreme and unpredictable environment," the report says, or "deliver a future of improved health, reduced inequity, and economic and environmental sustainability."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston Martin
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime minister
Speed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s plan
Speed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sites
Speed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace plan
Speed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of Taiwan
In the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU party
Speed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdown
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian state
Speed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine