Climate Change Is A Public Health Crisis—But Most Plans Ignore It
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An unidentified farmer (right), with his family, stands in an agricultural field as he holds the title to their new plot of land, San Vicente department, El Salvador, July 1982. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images) Getty Images As the planet warms, it’s not just glaciers melting and forests burning. It’s kidneys failing, pregnancies at risk, and entire communities being pushed into poverty. In Central America, farmworkers are suffering from kidney failure, while in Senegal, healthcare workers receive alerts that warn of upcoming heatwaves, which advise them to prepare for climate-related illnesses. And in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, officials have developed extreme heat plans to prevent a mass disaster during Carnival. Those aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of the new reality—the one that must handle much more climate-related stress and therefore design health systems appropriately. In fact, the Global Conference on Climate and Health in Brasília, Brazil, focused on this subject this month. There, government leaders, researchers, and global foundations, including The Rockefeller Foundation, pushed to make health a central pillar of climate action ahead of COP30 next year in Belém. “When we look at the challenges of the 21st century, climate and extreme heat are among the biggest challenges that we see. Many of our public health systems today are reactive, underfunded, and siloed—built for a world with linear threats and a stable climate. But today’s reality is different. We know that there is extreme heat,” says Emilia Carrera, director for health initiatives at The Rockefeller Foundation. She says heat-related economic damages are now costing the global economy $143 billion annually, expected to rise to $2.4 trillion by 2030. We spoke virtually when she highlighted that extreme heat causes a wide range of health issues and economic risks: infectious diseases, heart attacks, and food insecurity. But here’s the thing: most…
Filed under: News - @ August 12, 2025 2:28 pm