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New Delhi residents use clothes and books to protect their faces from the scorching sun on a hot June day in India. 2023 could be the hottest year on record.   © EAP/Jiji

Summit’s first health ministerial follows record summer spike in heatstroke and dengue cases

SAYUMI TAKE, Nikkei staff writerNOVEMBER 22, 2023 06:00 JST

TOKYO — 2023 is set to be the world’s hottest year on record, and the consequences for the human body are deadly.

Record-shattering temperatures can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. Disease-carrying mosquitoes flourish after torrential rain and devastating floods. Polluted air causes shortness of breath and respiratory illnesses. The health emergencies that accompany climate change are shaking communities across the globe.

The impact on Asia is already profound. The continent has warmed at twice the speed of the global average in the past 30 years due to its huge land mass, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

More people in Asia are dying or falling ill than ever before due to high temperatures, the United Nations scientific body Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in 2022. Heat stress is one of many health risks. Dengue and malaria are increasing in Thailand and Malaysia, while respiratory diseases caused by air pollution are rising in Indonesia. Even mental disorders like depression and anxiety are associated with climate change, according to a 2022 report by the IPCC.

“These impacts that we’re seeing today could be just a symptom of a very dangerous future unless we tackle climate change urgently,” warned Marina Romanello, executive director of the authoritative Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report.