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Protecting health in a changing climate

Climate change is already impacting on health and wellbeing in Wales through different ways, including:

  • Heat-related illness (dehydration, heatstroke) and excess death from heart attacks, strokes or lung disease due to high temperatures.
  • Flooding and extreme weather events affecting physical and mental wellbeing.
  • Changing patterns of infectious diseases.

Indirectly, climate change will impact on the building blocks for good health and wellbeing by:

  • Increasing the costs of basic needs like food and heating,
  • Damaging infrastructure and access to health care services, and
  • Impacting the availability of key resources like water and food.

Some people and communities will be at greater risk, such as children and young people, older people, people with pre-existing health conditions and those living in more deprived areas.

Heat-related deaths among those over 65 have already risen globally by 70% in the last two decades (WHO 2023) and Wales is expected to experience some of the worst heat-related mortality in the coming years (UKHSA 2024). Flooding, coastal erosion and sea-level rise are all predicted to increase leading to further impacts on health and wellbeing.

Climate change will also affect mental health and wellbeing.  Some people experience stress or anxiety about our changing climate, and those who have lived through an extreme weather event like flooding can experience mental health problems that persist for some time.

Responding to health impacts

We are working to understand how these impacts will affect the public health services we deliver, as well as the impacts on the Welsh population, ensuring that we have plans in place to continue our work as the climate changes. We have a number of teams and tools to help us do this including –

  • The Environmental Public Health team provides guidance and advice on preparing and responding to environmental hazards including flooding and hot weather, to reduce exposure and risks to our health.
  • Health impact assessment (HIA) is a systematic yet flexible approach that considers the wider effects of local and national policies or initiatives and how they, in turn, may affect people’s health. The information gathered can then be used to maximise opportunities for health and to minimise any risks. It also provides a way of addressing health inequalities.
  • The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of Climate Change in Wales supports action on climate adaptation and resilience by providing evidence on the wider health impacts of climate change and what it means for people’s lives in the places they live, work, learn and play.

Monitoring the health impacts

It’s important that our efforts to tackle the public health effects of climate change are focused where the need is greatest.  That’s why we carry out research to understand how the effects of a changing climate impact our physical and mental health, now and in the future.
 
 We know that climate change can affect the prevalence of conditions like heart disease and cancer, the spread of infectious disease and our mental health and wellbeing. This will put even greater pressure on our NHS. We are building systems to track the effects of adverse weather on our population’s health, starting with heat and cold-related morbidity and mortality.
 
By understanding and monitoring the health effects of climate change, we can help make sure that our nationwide effort to tackle its effects benefits our health and supports the development of a resilient and sustainable NHS in Wales.