Thread by @UHF_group

Have you read the @LancetCountdown’s new report on health and climate change? Check out @UHF_groups’ key takeaways 🧵👇

1) Climate change is impacting weather, #ecosystems, and human systems. This poses a threat to human #health. For example, young children, older people, and marginalized communities are more susceptible to health risks associated with high temperatures and #heatwaves.

2) High temperatures can reduce the frequency and duration of physical activity. Without #exercise, people are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other #NCDs.

3) Heat can also affect people’s ability to work. In 2020, 295 billion hours of potential work were lost due to extreme #heat. Most of this loss occurred in the agricultural sector and poses an additional risk for #foodinsecurity around the globe.

4) Hotter and drier conditions caused by climate change increase the risk of #wildfires and #drought. In 2020, 19% of the world was affected by extreme drought in any given month.

5) Changing environmental conditions are also increasing the risk of infectious #disease transmission. For example, the number of #dengue virus infections have doubled every decade since 1990.

6) Climate change poses a risk to food security and #nutrition. As crop yields continue to decrease, #foodinsecurity will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations.

7) There are currently over 560 million people who are settled less than 5m above sea level and are likely to be impacted by rising sea levels. Increased #migration is likely another result of #climatechange and would affect livelihoods, access to essential services, & wellbeing.

8) Without a more aggressive, global, and equitable response, the current #decarbonization commitments are insufficient and will lead to roughly a 2.4C average global temperature increase by the end of the century.

9) Despite this, there is an opportunity to ensure a healthy future for all. Promoting equitable #climatechange mitigation and universal access to clean energies would prevent millions of annual deaths from reduced exposure to #airpollution, healthier diets & lifestyles.

10) Some good news:
☀️Electricity generated from #renewable sources increased by a yearly average of 17% between 2013 and 2018
📉Investment in new coal decreased by 10% in 2020
🚘The global number of electric vehicles reached 7.2 million in 2019

11) TL;DR - the #climatecrisis is here and poses significant #health risks. However, there is also an opportunity to reduce global #inequity and ensure a healthy future for all.

Anything we missed that you want to discuss? Let us know in the comments! 👇