The arid bed of Rio Negro in Manaus, Brazil—a river that was once teeming with life—today stands as an eloquent harbinger of the worsening climate crisis.
As the climate crisis worsens, its impact on human health, economic stability, and food security is becoming increasingly untenable to ignore. A new Lancet Countdown report uncovers the extent of these challenges, calling for urgent global action as the world prepares for the U.N. climate summit, COP29.
Heat: The Silent Killer
The year 2023 shattered all records as the hottest year in history—a fact that saw the average person endure 50 more days of extreme heat compared to a world without climate modification. The elderly are particularly affected, with 167% more heat-related deaths among people aged over 65 since the 1990s.
“Year on year, the deaths directly associated with climate change are growing,” said Marina Belén Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown.
This is because accurate tracking of heat-related deaths is challenging, and many countries still lack proper record-keeping. Unsurprisingly, heat is often referred to as a “silent killer” and it has quickly become the deadliest extreme weather event in many parts of the world.
For optimal health, the human body requires an internal temperature of around 36.5 degrees Celsius. When exposed to heat, our body initiates cooling mechanisms to keep its temperature stable, including sweating to dissipate heat through evaporation and dilating blood vessels to release heat.
In extreme heat, when the environmental temperature exceeds our body’s own temperature, these physiological processes are compromised. Elevated humidity can further complicate matters, as it hinders the evaporation of sweat from the skin and thus the body’s cooling-down process. The increase in extreme heat is a direct result of our warming planet, which is driven by greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. This raises Earth’s surface temperature and leads to longer and hotter heatwaves.
But rising temperatures are doing more than claiming lives-they’re driving widespread illness and curbing productivity. Last year, extreme heat cost the global economy an estimated 512 billion labor hours, with key workers such as outdoor laborers and health professionals most exposed.
Rising Food Insecurity
Climate change is also ravaging global food systems. In 2023, extreme drought conditions affected 48% of the world’s land area, while an additional 151 million people are experiencing food insecurity compared to averages between 1981 and 2010.
The food security and nutrition situation remained grim in 2022. The report finds that approximately 29.6 percent of the global population, equivalent to 2.4 billion people, did not have constant access to food, as measured by the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity. Among them, around 900 million individuals faced severe food insecurity. Meanwhile, the capacity of people to access healthy diets has deteriorated across the world: more than 3.1 billion people in the world – or 42 percent – were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021. This represents an overall increase of 134 million people compared to 2019.
Millions of children under five continue to suffer from malnutrition: in 2022, 148 million children under five years of age (22.3 percent) were stunted, 45 million (6.8 percent) were wasted, and 37 million (5.6 percent) were overweight. Progress has been seen in exclusive breastfeeding with 48 percent of infants under 6-months of age benefiting from this practice, close to the 2025 target. However, more concerted efforts will be required to meet the 2030 malnutrition targets.
Flooding due to intense rainfall has only compounded the problem, poisoning the water supply and spreading the spread of diseases. These twin pressures underscore the urgent requirement for coordinated action to stabilize food production and distribution systems. The COP29 Mandate: Financing Health and Climate Resilience
As leaders descend upon Baku, Azerbaijan, at COP29, the question of climate finance will take center stage. This year’s Lancet Countdown report urges decision-makers to put public health at the heart of climate adaptation plans.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had a stirring appeal, “We must cure the sickness of climate inaction by slashing fossil fuel use and emissions to create a fairer, safer, and healthier future for all.”
This year’s summit is a crucial opportunity to reshape global priorities, ensuring that climate solutions address not only environmental goals but also the human cost of inaction.
The Role of Informed Advocacy
Diplotic readers have the privilege of influencing this dialogue. We make our demands known for renewable energy, sustainable development, and equitable policy to push the global agenda toward change.
The climate crisis is not an overhanging threat, nor is it an emerging threat; it is a present and increasingly disastrous reality. Renewable energy, preparedness against disasters, and the saving of the most vulnerable isn’t a choice; this is an imperative.
Going into COP29, the message is simple: the time is now. We forge a path toward resilience, equity, and hope.
