Human health risks in a changing climate: observed impacts, adaptation and future risks
Climate change is increasingly affecting population health through heat, cold, floods, droughts, wildfires, storms and rapidly changing, or compound, hazards. These events contribute not only to premature mortality but also to cardiorespiratory and infectious diseases, injuries, adverse mental health outcomes and disruption of healthcare and other essential services. An estimated 489,000 heat-related deaths occur globally each year, and more than 181,000 heat-related deaths were recorded across Europe during the summers of 2022–2024. Occupational heat exposure also affects more than 2.4 billion workers globally and is associated with nearly 23 million injuries each year.
These impacts are unevenly distributed. Socioeconomic position, age, sex and gender, ethnicity, pre-existing health conditions, occupation and place intersect to shape exposure, susceptibility and adaptive capacity. Marginalised populations, including older adults, children, people with chronic conditions, outdoor and manual workers, and communities living in low-income or geographically exposed areas, often bear a disproportionate burden. An intersectional and climate-justice perspective is therefore essential for understanding health risks and developing effective and equitable responses.
This session, organised in collaboration with the Swedish Centre for Impacts of Climate Extremes (CLIMES), invites contributions examining the diverse and unequal effects of climate variability, climate change and extreme events on human health. We particularly welcome studies that:
1. quantify observed impacts and future health risks from single, compound and cascading climate hazards;
2. investigate the attribution of health impacts to anthropogenic climate change;
3. identify intersecting socioeconomic, demographic, occupational and spatial vulnerabilities;
4. develop or evaluate health early-warning systems, impact-based forecasting and other climate services;
5. assess the effectiveness, equity and potential unintended consequences of adaptation interventions; and
6. integrate climate, environmental, health and social data to strengthen public health preparedness, resilient health systems and equitable adaptation.
7. storylines methods and their capacity to inform decision makers.
We welcome contributions using epidemiological, modelling, qualitative, participatory and interdisciplinary approaches.