12/12/2003

Climate change killed 150,000 in 2000: UN report

Climate change is taking a serious toll on health, with more than 150,000 directly related deaths worldwide in 2000, according to a United Nations report.

The report, 'Climate Change and Human Health – Risks and Responses', stated that climate change was responsible for 150,000 deaths, 2.4% of the world’s cases of diarrhoea and 2% of all malaria cases in 2000.

Launched at the 9th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Milan yesterday, the study surveyed how climate change has an impact on human health, from influencing weather patterns and air pollution to causing water and food contamination.

The report, co-authored by the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), also contains with guidelines offering governments and organizations "practical advice" on how to respond to the problems.

Dr Kerstin Leitner, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments, said: “There is growing evidence that changes in the global climate will have profound effects on the health and well-being of citizens in countries throughout the world.”

The WHO said the guidelines had been issued in the wake of the heat wave in Europe this summer, when about 20,000 people are estimated to have died.

The 1990s have been recorded as the hottest decade in recorded history.

(gmcg)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

02 April 2014
High Levels Of Air Pollution In England And Wales
Public Health England (PHE) scientists are issuing advice for parts of England and Wales. In the last few days, a combination of local emissions, light winds, pollution from the continent and dust blown over from the Sahara caused a spike in the UK Air Quality Index compiled by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
18 November 2010
Health At The Heart Of Climate Change Agenda
Several leading medical journals have come together to urge health professionals everywhere to put health at the heart of climate change negotiations.
30 January 2006
Government report warns of 'dangerous' climate changes
A report launched today concludes that the effects of 'dangerous' levels of climate change are likely to occur over coming decades. It offers little hope that CO2 emissions can be kept in check, and that given rapid global warming, meltwater from the Greenland ice sheet will cause sea levels to rise by seven metres.
17 February 2006
Emissions legacy threatens 'abrupt' climate change
New research suggests that the decisions of this generation will leave a legacy of increasingly abrupt climate change over the next millennium unless there is a major reduction in C02 emissions.
10 March 2014
Govt To Introduce Quick Response Codes
Consumers wanting to know more about their energy use and whether they are getting the best value for money will have a new and easy way of finding the best deal.