In a few days, the COP24 (24th World Climate Conference) will open in Poland. On this occasion, the report “Countdown on health and climate change” reveals in its 2018 edition that climate change has a concrete impact on our health.
Populations more at risk than others
Cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases or viruses transmitted by mosquitoes increase because of the heat. The study signed by international experts, published by the medical journal The Lancet, raises the alarm. But who are the populations most threatened by this global rise in temperature? The elderly, people already affected by a disease and urban dwellers would be most at risk.
“Cases of vulnerability to heat waves have been steadily increasing since 1990. In 2017, more than 157 million people were exposed to them. 18 million more than the previous year” underlines the report.
Geographical situations more or less impacted
What are the areas most at risk? Europe, first. Even if it is not the one that suffers the most from the increase in temperatures, compared to Africa where the heat could become unbearable, it has more elderly people in the cities. It is on this point that Europe is most vulnerable.
Obviously, this increase in diseases due to heat threatens the economies of countries in addition to global health. The report points out that:In 2017, 153 billion working hours were lost due to heat exposure, 62 billion more than in 2000“In this respect, India, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America are the most affected.
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