Health Matters

GLOBAL FAILURE TO ADAPT TO climate change is taking a toll on people’s lives and is responsible for millions of deaths every year, according to a new report from the Lancet.

- By Simmone Shah

“This year’s health stocktake paints a bleak and undeniable picture of the devastating health harms reaching all corners of the world—with record-breaking threats to health from heat, extreme weather events, and wildfire smoke killing millions,” declared the Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, led by University College London and produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Twelve of the report’s 20 indicators for the health risks and impacts of climate change in the report set new records, including extreme precipitation events and food insecurity from climate extremes.