A new report from The Lancet Countdown lays bare the alarming costs of our failure to act on climate change. It fails to recognize that millions of lives are lost each year due to the impacts of increasingly devastating environmental disasters. The report’s findings shed light on a combined health and climate emergency, demanding global action more than ever before.
According to the report, climate change has led to an unprecedented global increase of 16 health threatening hot days per year. Those who were most vulnerable bore the brunt. Further, those under one year and over 65 were affected more than ever, with an average of 20 heat wave days. Infants have gone up an eye-popping 389%. In the same time frame, the senior population has experienced an astounding 304% increase, both relative to the annual averages measured between 1986-2005.
Beyond the heat waves that climate change fuels, the air pollution which climate change exacerbates threatens public health. In 2022, polluting fuels burned in homes led to 2.3 million preventable deaths. This avoidable tragedy played out in 65 countries, including many with the least access to clean energy. Ambient air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels caused an estimated 2.52 million deaths worldwide that year. These numbers make clear the deadly results of continuing to depend on harmful energy sources.
The report makes clear that we are experiencing a historic shift from coal. This shift away from coal has prevented an estimated 160,000 deaths annually from 2010 to 2022 by decreasing fine particulate air pollution. Using oil, gas and coal has an enormous human toll. It’s responsible for nearly 2.5 million annual deaths from air pollution.
Meanwhile, 2024 continues to set new records, already being the hottest year on record. Climate change exacerbated this extreme heat, resulting in catastrophic health, life, and livelihood impacts. Black carbon, a harmful component of wildfire smoke, contributed to a record 154,000 excess deaths for the year. Since the 1950s, climate change has increased the global average transmission potential of dengue fever by as much as 49%. This sudden growth is exacerbating existing public health crises.
Yet, even with this dire need for rapid clean energy access, more than two billion people continue to use dirty and dangerous fuels in their households today. These delays in moving to cleaner alternatives still continue to weigh them down. One of the report’s most alarming findings is that heat-related deaths have increased by 23% since the 1990s. Due to climate change, heat-related deaths averaged an astounding 546,000 annually from 2012 to 2021. For the economic cost alone, the number of heat-related deaths among people 65 years and older totaled a shocking US$261 billion.
It is no secret that unsustainable food systems are driving the climate crisis. In 2022, carbon-intensive and unhealthy diets were responsible for an estimated 11.8 million diet-related deaths. Furthermore, the world’s largest fossil fuel companies are projected to increase their production levels significantly, risking greenhouse gas emissions that would exceed limits compatible with a rise of only 1.5°C by 2040.