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 Global Warming, Climate changes and Its Impacts


In the last five decades, human activities have resulted in the release of increasing quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, thus contributing to global climate change by additional heating of the atmosphere. The world has warmed up by approximately 0.85 °C. In particular, the last decade has been the warmest since 1850, and the frequency and intensity of natural disasters (such as earthquakes, devastating storms, forest fires, prolonged heat waves, droughts, and floods) have increased manifold. Between 1998 and 2017, climate-related and geophysical disasters killed 1.3 million people and left a further 4.4 billion injured, homeless, displaced, or in need of emergency assistance. Climate change scenarios include a change in the spread of infectious diseases with warming and changes in outbreaks associated with extreme weather events after floods or as a result of water heating. Furthermore, warmer climates provide more favorable conditions for the survival and completion of the life cycle of the vector that transmits pathogens. Natural disasters and extreme events lead to traumatic deaths and injuries, mental illnesses, and infections, while global warming per se promotes heat-associated illnesses (cardiovascular strain, pulmonary diseases, exsiccosis, mental disorder.

The World Health Organization (WHO) expects approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 from extreme heat, natural disasters, and changing patterns of infections, mostly in people at risk (people living in coastal regions or mega cities, children, the elderly, people with multiple and/or severe comorbidities, and—last but not least—people living in regions with weak healthcare infrastructures).


The impact of global warming on diseases requiring intensive care has been extrapolated from some existing data regarding a change in the spread of infectious diseases, an (further) alteration of the function of the respiratory system—especially in patients suffering from chronic lung diseases—an expected increase in kidney diseases, an expansion of cognitive disorders due to heat waves, particularly in the elderly, and some adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. 

According to statistical models to estimate the global burden of infectious diseases due to climate change, in 2030, there could be a 10% increase in diarrhoeal diseases, primarily in young children, and the population at risk for malaria could increase by 3–5%. Of late, in Germany, the first incidence of meningitis caused by mosquito-borne West Nile virus infection was reported in a man who never had travelled abroad. In consequence, in future, the European intensivist—who already should be aware of uncommon vector-borne diseases due to global tourism—must be further sensitized to presently uncommon or tropical mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, or other vector-borne viral, fungal, or bacterial transmissions like coccidioidomycosis or avian influenza.


What should we expect regarding the impact of climate change on respiratory health? Lungs in a warming world become more vulnerable, especially those that are yet damaged. In patients with serious lung diseases like asthma or chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), an aggravation of severity or increased mortality has been described as a consequence of global warming. Increasing concentration of greenhouse gases, air pollution, forest fires, prolonged heat waves, droughts, and floods contributes to increased respiratory morbidity and mortality. During the 2006 heat wave in Portugal, for each 1 °C increase COPD morbidity increased by 5.4%, especially in women and in persons aged over 75 years. Furthermore, a rapid spread of viral respiratory infections (e.g. Hantavirus, respiratory syncytial virus) as well as fungal respiratory infections (coccidioidomycosis, aspergillosis) can be expected.

Dehydration and volume loss could be the other consequences of climate-related extreme heat exposure, leading to chronic kidney diseases or acute renal failure apart from that caused by diabetes, hypertension, or glomerulonephropathy. A recent study has recognized an epidemic of chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology in Central America (‘Mesoamerican Nephropathy’), which has been attributed to recurrent dehydration due to heat stress. Several studies have addressed potential cardiopulmonary health effects associated with climate change parameters, and these effects are expected to further increase in the coming decades. It seems that a rise in mortality, emergency room visits, and (intensive care) hospitalization due to cardiopulmonary diseases attendant on heat stress, extreme weather conditions, or air pollution are more certain than worst-case horror scenarios.


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