Why climate change affects health
Changing weather patterns pose a serious threat to people’s health. While extreme weather events such as heatwaves, storms or natural disasters can lead directly to illness, injury or death, most effects of climate change on health are more indirect. Whether and how climate change affects people’s health status depends on local environmental conditions, their socio-economic status as well as on the resilience of communities and health systems, i.e. on their capacity to prepare for and flexibly respond to climate-related challenges.
