A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #10-26 - Health and climate: is another front opening? We're in the clear - The Climate Crisis Notebook (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates over 250,000 additional 
deaths worldwide annually due to climate change for the period 
2030-2050. In defining the boundaries within which to consider the 
impact of the climate crisis as a contributing factor to human health 
problems, I excluded deaths caused by extreme weather events, as well as 
those affecting climate migrants, who, crossing seas, mountain passes, 
deserts, or confronting human traffickers, are undoubtedly exposed to 
greater risk. Likewise, I did not consider cases of malnutrition 
resulting from crop failures caused by weather anomalies and the "food 
insecurity" affecting the economically most vulnerable segment of the 
population, who not only face reduced availability of basic foods but 
also suffer from price increases determined by international market 
rules, which, in effect, further limit their accessibility.

The ones just listed are all consequences that have a significant impact 
on people's well-being, health, and very lives, but on this page of the 
notebook, we focus on aspects directly linked to specific pathologies.

In 2021, over 200 medical journals published an unprecedented joint 
editorial urging world leaders to act: "The science is unequivocal: a 
1.5°C global warming above the pre-industrial average, coupled with 
continued biodiversity loss, risks catastrophic health damage from which 
there will be no reversal."

It's hot and you die

In the summer of 2022, between 60,000 and 70,000 premature deaths in 
Europe were attributed to heat; if the data from the summer of 2023 were 
added together, the figure would exceed 100,000. Heatwave risks for the 
population have already been at critical levels in southern Europe for 
some time. Heatwaves occur when very high temperatures are recorded for 
several consecutive days, often combined with high humidity, strong 
solar radiation, and a lack of ventilation.

Those most at risk are those whose work forces them to remain outdoors 
or those who cannot afford air conditioning and adequate insulation for 
their homes, as well as the elderly and children, whose body's 
thermoregulatory capacity is more limited. As evidence of the increased 
risk, it is worth remembering that every summer the Ministry of Health 
activates the National Warning Forecast System, with the technical and 
scientific support of the Department of Epidemiology of the Lazio 
Regional Health Service, a center of expertise within the Department of 
Civil Protection.

The system allows for the forecasting, surveillance, and prevention of 
the effects of heat waves on the population's health, monitoring 27 
Italian cities: Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Cagliari, 
Campobasso, Catania, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Genoa, Latina, 
Messina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Reggio Calabria, 
Rieti, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona, Viterbo.

For each specific urban area, weather and climate conditions that can 
have a significant impact on the health of vulnerable individuals are 
detected.

The system provides a pre-alert level for health and social services and 
two subsequent alert levels that are triggered based on temperatures 
measured at 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., as well as perceived temperatures. 
Perceived temperatures are a parameter of so-called bioclimatic 
discomfort that takes into account air temperature and relative humidity.

Heat causes health problems when it disrupts the body's temperature 
regulation system. Normally, the body, which shouldn't be exposed to an 
external temperature above 37°C, protects itself through vasodilation 
and sweating, but in certain physical and environmental conditions, this 
isn't enough. High temperatures combined with high humidity stress the 
heart's muscles and cells, requiring the heart to pump more blood, and 
sweat eliminates sodium, potassium, and other minerals essential for 
proper body function . Extreme heat can also worsen the health of people 
with pre-existing chronic conditions.

Worsening of health condition

Prolonged exposure to these conditions can cause mild ailments, such as 
cramps, fainting, and swelling, or more serious ones, such as 
congestion, heat stroke, and dehydration. In a more detailed discussion, 
we're referring to:

Sunstroke: caused by an increase in body temperature due to insufficient 
thermoregulation. It occurs with prolonged exposure to solar radiation, 
especially on very hot, windless summer days.

Cramps: caused by a loss of sodium, due to sweating, and a consequent 
alteration of the water-salt balance.

Edema: caused by fluid retention in the lower limbs as a consequence of 
prolonged peripheral vasodilation.

Dehydration: Caused by a loss of water from the body greater than the 
intake, which negatively impacts multiple body functions.
Kidney disease: Exposure to extreme heat can lead to acute kidney 
failure due to dehydration. In individuals with chronic heat exposure 
(e.g., agricultural workers), it can contribute to chronic kidney failure.

Effects on blood pressure: People with hypertension and heart disease, 
especially the elderly, but also many healthy people, may experience 
episodes of low blood pressure.

Heat stress: It is caused by a collapse of the peripheral vessels with 
insufficient blood supply to the brain.

Symptoms may arise in excessively hot environments, especially in 
unacclimated individuals, with reduced cardiac efficiency (insufficient 
compensation for widespread peripheral vasodilation) due to decreased 
blood volume resulting from dehydration. If not diagnosed and treated 
promptly, it can progress to heat stroke.

Heatstroke occurs when the physiological ability to regulate body 
temperature is compromised, such as when exposed to excessively high 
temperatures, combined with high humidity and poor ventilation. Loss of 
consciousness may occur. Body temperature rises rapidly (within 10-15 
minutes) to 40-41°C, followed by possible internal organ failure, which 
can lead to death.

Although less severe, respiratory allergies are on the rise as a direct 
consequence of climate change. Warm periods of the year are becoming 
longer and more frequent, with a wider range of pollination periods for 
various plant species. This causes allergies to lose their usual 
seasonality, appearing at other times of the year as well. Rising 
temperatures are also associated with a greater proliferation of mold 
and fungi, which can cause symptoms such as  asthma  or  rhinitis in 
allergy sufferers .

Widening spread of infectious diseases

In a changing climate, the frequency and distribution of many infectious 
diseases are also changing: climatic conditions are becoming 
increasingly suitable for the transmission of multiple pathogens, 
directly influencing their biological characteristics (such as growth, 
survival, and virulence) and their vectors, and indirectly favoring 
transmission through ecosystem modification and changes in human 
behavior. Increased temperatures and precipitation can promote a range 
of infections, from vector-borne to enteric infections to parasitic 
diseases ( The Lancet Microbe , 2021).

Italy, due to its geographic location between North Africa and Europe, 
is particularly affected by climate variations. The humid climate and 
long, hot seasons have increased the presence of mosquitoes, such as the 
tiger mosquito, and with them, the risk of spreading viruses that use 
them as vectors. Thus, diseases once confined to humid areas are 
appearing more frequently. Some examples: West Nile Fever (WNF), a 
potentially neuroinvasive bird-borne viral infection, which recorded a 
significant increase in incidence in 2023; Chikungunya, characterized by 
fever and debilitating joint pain; Dengue, of which autochthonous cases 
have been recorded in Lombardy; leishmaniasis; Lyme borreliosis, 
transmitted by the Ixodes ricinus tick, which is no longer found only in 
wooded areas but also in parks; and finally, malaria, whose Plasmodium 
is transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus.

Among other infectious diseases that spread more easily are those 
transmitted by contaminated water: from typhoid fever to cholera to 
salmonella , a problem that particularly affects areas affected by 
flooding. Even seawater, with rising temperatures, can harbor threats 
and pose a danger to fish. In warmer waters, vibrio bacteria proliferate 
more, and if ingested with fish or shellfish, they can cause diarrheal 
symptoms.

Then there are the consequences, still little studied because they are 
linked to less-explored dynamics, which could open up even more 
problematic scenarios. Climate change contributes to changing the habits 
of certain animal species, from those previously sedentary, which 
migrate to new areas, to others accustomed to migrating to warmer zones, 
which, with rising temperatures, are no longer encouraged to do so. 
These phenomena can lead animal species that had never had contact with 
each other to coexist in the same territories, resulting in the sharing 
of pathogens and the potential development of new diseases. They can 
also contribute to the prolongation of a parasite's life cycle in a 
given animal, increasing the risk of its spread.

The climate crisis is therefore acting as a multiplier of health risks 
that, in the short term, can be contained through the implementation of 
prevention strategies, active surveillance of the spread of new 
pathogens, and a general adjustment in the commitment of resources to 
healthcare. Unfortunately, the global trend is toward increased military 
spending while simultaneously cutting public healthcare spending. Once 
again, those who will pay the highest price will be the most vulnerable, 
those who, in a society of inequality, find themselves relegated to the 
"disadvantaged" category.

MarTa

Sitography

https://www.infezioniobiettivozero.info/8-infezioni/154-impatto-del-cambiamento-climatico-sulla-salute-e-sulle-malattie-infettive.html

https://www.airc.it/cancro/informazioni-tumori/non-solo-cancro/ambiente-e-salute/i-cambiamenti-climatici-danno-la-spinta-alla-diffusione-dei-virus

https://www.wwf.it/pandanews/ambiente/emergenze/crisi-climatica-minaccia-salute/

https://www.msdmanuals.com/it/professionale/news/editorial/2025/10/09/15/07/environmental-effects-of-climate-change-on-human-health

https://www.fondazioneveronesi.it/magazine/altre-news/morire-di-caldo-in-europa-47-mila-decessi-nellestate-2023

https://umanitanova.org/salute-e-clima-si-apre-un-altro-fronte-stiamo-freschi-il-taccuino-della-crisi-climatica/
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