Environmental studies assistant professor Lucy McAllister contributed to new findings for a section of the recent Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, Indicator 5.1: media engagement with health and climate change. The Lancet report connects health issues to global climate change.
“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our generation to solve,” McAllister said. “This is the eighth Lancet countdown report, and the data is highly concerning. New global projections indicate mounting threats to health caused by further delayed action on climate change.”
The Lancet Countdown report provides evidence-based guidance to policymakers and supplies health professionals with tools to improve public health.
Some of the key findings include:
- The cost to lives and livelihoods: In 2022, individuals were, on average, exposed to 86 days of health-threatening high temperatures, of which 60% were at least twice as likely to occur because of human-caused climate change.
- Mounting threats to health caused by delayed action on climate change: The world is likely to experience a three-fold increase in heat-related deaths by mid-century.
- A new regional section highlighting the unequal experiences of the health impacts of climate change. The authors outline an energy transition that may reduce health inequities and improve overall health and well-being.
Read the full report, which was funded by The Wellcome Trust.
