Scientists at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have warned of another health hazard caused by climate change. Specifically, the increased heat exposure will lead to undernutrition and its associated illnesses.
Earlier studies had already demonstrated that global warming would cause undernutrition simply by impairing crop production and thus increasing food shortages. The lead researcher Yuming Guo, the Associate Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and his colleagues analyzed Brazilian hospital records from between 2005 and 2015. The records covered almost 80 percent of the population.
The scientists looked for a link between daily mean temperatures and hospitalizations for undernutrition. They found that hospitalizations for undernutrition increased by 2.5 percent for every 1 degree C increase in the daily mean temperature during the hot season. The researchers also found that the link between increased warming and increased hospitalizations was particularly strong in children between 5 and 19 years old and in people who were over 80 years old.
The scientists estimated that 15.6 of the undernutrition cases during the study period could be attributed to heat exposure.
The researchers also suggested ways that increased heat exposure could cause undernutrition. For example, extreme heat reduces appetite so people tend to eat less. Similarly, people don’t want to cook or go shopping for food when they are hot. Heat exposure can also increase undernutrition through the following effects:
• Impairing thermoregulation
• Exacerbating any digestive problems
• Increasing alcohol consumption
• Worsening any existing undernutrition
The report concluded that climate change is one of the greatest threats to any attempts at reducing hunger, especially in countries with low or middling incomes. Climate change could reduce the global availability of food by 3.2 percent and thus cause 30,000 deaths to undernutrition by 2050.
The scientists warn that that last estimate could be extremely low, as it does not consider the effects that increased temperature will have on health. They speculated that climate could impair people’s ability to adapt to increased temperatures as well as increase undernutrition rates. They advised that organizations find ways to reduce people’s exposure to extreme heat as well as protect crops and livestock from the effects of climate change.
The scientists’ report was published in the Oct 30 issue of the journal “PLOS Medicine”.
