Direct and indirect health impacts of climate change on the vulnerable elderly population in East China

Abstract

The latest scientific advances on the impacts of climate change on the health of the elderly in East China were reviewed consulting peer-reviewed publications from 2000 to 2017. The direct impacts of climate change result from rising temperatures, heat waves, and increases in the frequency of complex extreme weather events such as windstorms, floods, and droughts. The health and social consequences of these events are far reaching, ranging from reduced labour productivity and heat-related deaths through to direct physical injury during extreme weather events, the spread of infectious diseases, and mental health effects following widespread flooding or prolonged drought. Research has indicated that climate change will have the greatest impact on vulnerable groups of people, including the elderly population. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence, a lack of focus on vulnerable segments of the population (especially elderly), limited understanding of how health status will change in the future, and lack of acknowledgement of how different regions in China vary in terms of the consequences of climate change. The main risk in East China that climate change may exacerbate is flooding (sea level rise, coastal and riverine, flood risk). However in some regions of East China such as in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Shandong the biggest climate change risk is considered to be drought. Main health risks linked to climate change are evident as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases (heat stroke, exhaustion, and asthma), often caused by interactions between heat wave episodes and concurrent poor air quality.

Reported evidence of greenness co-benefits on health, climate change mitigation, and adaptation: a systematic review of the literature

“…All around the world, experts are reporting on the negative impacts of climate change on human health [2,35]. Climate change is affecting human health in numerous ways, both directly and indirectly [36][37][38]. The negative effects of heat waves, flooding, and drought on human health are evident (injuries, heat stroke, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular burdens) [39][40][41].…”

Climate-adaptive housing for the elderly: A preliminary study in New Zealand

“…Climate change, with effects such as long-term temperature rise and more frequent heatwaves and unstable weather conditions, result in more heat-related illnesses and death [16]. The effects of temperature rise on the elderly include decreased productivity and heat-related deaths and from extreme weather events, illnesses, direct injuries and the increased spread of infectious diseases [8]. The more common health risks linked to heat exposure and poor indoor thermal conditions include cardiovascular disease [8], respiratory disease [3], heat stress and heat exhaustion [26], heatstroke and dehydration [27], sleep disturbance, fatigue, headache, and breathing discomfort [15].…”

“…The effects of temperature rise on the elderly include decreased productivity and heat-related deaths and from extreme weather events, illnesses, direct injuries and the increased spread of infectious diseases [8]. The more common health risks linked to heat exposure and poor indoor thermal conditions include cardiovascular disease [8], respiratory disease [3], heat stress and heat exhaustion [26], heatstroke and dehydration [27], sleep disturbance, fatigue, headache, and breathing discomfort [15]. Other reported effects include gastrointestinal infections and infectious diseases [28].…”

“…The effects of climate change such as sea-level rise, changes in weather patterns, and increases in global temperature, have been considered to be threat to human health. Research has shown that these effects could impact significantly on vulnerable populations, including the elderly [8] through the built environment, particularly the housing sector [9]. However, the housing performance would depend on how it was built, designed, used, and maintained [9].…”

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“…Algunos autores proponen ampliar la cobertura de prestaciones de salud, en los centros asistenciales, a los problemas de salud mental y mejorar las actividades de información disponible para enfrentar la sequía en las zonas afectadas (6)(7)(8) .…”