The climate crisis is not a hypothetical scenario in a distant future. Temperatures are rising in Europe twice as fast as the global average, impacting health with effects that are not equitable among countries or individuals. One of the effects is that the mortality rate due to heat exposure is increasing twice as much in women as in men. This is the conclusion of the second regional report by Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Europe, published in The Lancet Public Health.
The warning from this study, coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), is clear: climate change is here in Europe, and it is deadly.
According to the study, heat-related deaths have increased in most of Europe, with an additional 17 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants between the periods of 2003-2012 and 2013-2022; we went from an average of 51 to 68 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
The climatic suitability for certain pathogens and vectors has also increased in Europe. The risk of West Nile virus outbreaks has grown by 256% (from 1951-60 to 2013-22); and the number of suitable regions in Europe for leishmaniasis has increased from 55% (2011-2020) to 68%, with an expansion to the north.
The authors also point out that in 2021, nearly 60 million people experienced moderate to severe food insecurity in Europe, with almost 12 million (considered additional) attributed to the increased number of heatwaves and months of drought.
“But the negative impacts of climate change are not experienced equitably,” says Catrhyn Tonne, researcher at ISGlobal and co-director of The Lancet Countdown in Europe, in an interview for La Vanguardia, and adds, “Some regions and people, such as women or those living in economically disadvantaged areas, are more affected.”
The report reveals that Southern Europe tends to be more affected by heat-related illnesses, wildfires, food insecurity, drought, mosquito-borne diseases, and leishmaniasis. Additionally, while the increase in heat-related deaths has been 9% on average in Europe, in the South it has been 11%.
On the other hand, Northern Europe is equally or even more affected by vibrio and ticks, which can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis, according to the study.
If we analyze the effects within countries, the authors conclude that the groups that have historically or currently experienced discrimination are the ones that can be most severely affected by climate change.
Heat-related mortality has been twice as high in women, with an additional 21.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, while in men the figure is 13.8. Additionally, women also have a higher number of deaths attributable to an unbalanced diet.
The authors attribute this difference to the fact that the combined effects on health are unevenly distributed among populations due to differences in exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability, which often reflect patterns of social inequality.
As a result, ethnic minorities, indigenous populations, low-income communities, migrants and displaced persons, sexual and gender minorities, are the groups most likely to face more severe health impacts from climate change in the future.
At the same time, the study denounces that there is little commitment to environmental equity aspects in policy indicators and, in Tonne’s words, that Europe, a global region that has shown leadership in the fight against climate change, is still not moving fast enough to prevent health consequences.
“The figures show that progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions is progressing too slowly,” says Tonne, who explains that it is necessary to accelerate emissions reductions if we want to prevent health hazards from worsening, and concludes: “The good news is that by putting health at the center of plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can have significant and immediate health benefits.”
