Climate Change Is One Of The Biggest Health Threats Worldwide: Lancet Report

While heart attacks and cancers are well-known causes of death globally, climate change is one of those factors that needs immediate global attention. The 2025 Lancet Countdown report on Health and Climate Change has revealed alarming data highlighting the implications of climate change on human existence.

Compiled by 128 global experts, the data states that the planet's essential systems are destabilizing at a rate faster than expected. The patterns in the data are strikingly consistent, highlighting record heat, unprecedented droughts, intense rainfall, and the spread of disease vectors.

Heatwave, a major concern

According to the Lancet data, on average, 84% of the heatwave days that people faced annually between 2020 and 2024 would not have occurred without climate change, and heat-related mortality has increased by 63% since the 1990s, to a yearly average of 546,000 deaths in 2012-2021.

In India, an average of 20 heatwave days were observed in 2024, of which approximately six-and-a-half days would not have been expected were it not for climate change. The data also suggests that an exposure to heat in 2024 resulted in a loss of 247 billion potential labour hours per year -- a record high of nearly 420 hours per person -- and 124 per cent more than that during 1990-1999. Additionally, wildfire smoke, also associated with increasing heat, was linked to a record 154,000 deaths in 2024, while air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels kills 2.5 million people every year.

Poor air quality

India's air quality has worsened over the past few years. In 2022, coal-the primary fuel for India's power plants-was responsible for 394,000 premature deaths, with petrol accounting for another 269,000.

Heavy dependence on solid biofuels like wood, dung, and crop residues for cooking also silently claims many lives in the country, disproportionately impacting rural women and children. In 2022, household air pollution caused 113 deaths per 100,000 individuals, with mortality rates being 25% higher in villages than in urban areas.

Unhealthy diets

Heavy dependence on highly processed foods is one important factor that the data highlighted. "Deaths related to unhealthy diets reached 11.8 million deaths in 2022, including 1.9 million deaths from excessive red meat and dairy intake deaths which are largely preventable through switching to healthier, more climate-friendly diets," the report mentioned.

"Climate change is increasingly destabilising the planetary systems and environmental conditions on which human life depends," the study said.

Ultimately, adopting healthier diets, investing in reforestation, and embracing sustainable agriculture could serve as crucial public health initiatives waiting to be implemented on a larger scale.

The authors of the report call for three key measures in mitigating the health consequences of the climate crisis. These include the expansion of renewable and clean energy to curb rising global temperatures and air pollution. Implementation of residential buildings and public infrastructure that are fit for extreme weather conditions. Lastly, the scientists urged to strengthen global healthcare systems urgently so that they are well-equipped to face the additional challenges climate change presents.

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