Epidemic of heat-related illnesses among workers exposed to hot working environments in the changing climate scenario

Rising global temperatures, coupled with decreasing access to clean drinking water, may enhance the effects of heat exposure to general and working populations across the globe. People working in jobs that require moderate or heavy manual labor in hot environments are at particular risk caused by the combined effect of exposures to high environmental heat and internal heat production. Exposures to heat can lead to a range of clinical health effects such as fatigue, exhaustion, heat syncope, fainting, heat stroke or even death. Furthermore, heat-related physical exhaustion leads to a reduction of the worker's ability to work with consequent productivity losses that may cause substantial economic losses for the businesses. The result of such continuous heat exposures, manual work and repeated dehydration are also known to cause acute kidney injuries that can further develop into chronic kidney diseases. With the predicted rise in temperatures due to climate change, the health effects for the working population are expected to become worse without appropriate interventions. With this background, the present review focuses on the heat-related health illnesses with special attention to kidney disease among workers engaged in manual physical labor in different occupational sectors.

Sea level under climate change: Understanding the links between the past and the future

Rising global sea level, a consequence of climate change, results from an increase in the world ocean’s water volume and mass. Recent climate warming is responsible for producing the highest rate of global average sea-level rise of the past few millennia, and this rate will accelerate through the 21st century and beyond, exposing low-lying islands and coastal regions to significant flood risks. The flood risks can be compounded or diminished locally because changes in sea level are not uniform. In this review, we briefly discuss ice sheets as drivers of global and local sea levels, and how they could evolve under modern climate change. We underline some of the impacts of sea level change on coastal communities, and emphasize that local sea-level projections can be very different from estimates of the global average.

Putting the brakes on climate change – it’s about more than just CO2.

Climate change mitigation is about more than just CO2. Mitigating a suite of additional pollutants is important for limiting climate change: in particular, taking action on what are known as "short-lived climate-forcing pollutants" (SLCPs). Although it is common to report the effect of non-CO2 climate warmers in terms of "CO2 equivalence" they aren't simply "equivalent" – their effects on climate and ecosystem are distinct. In the case of SLCPs, one important difference is in the time horizon: SLCPs have the largest impact on near-term climate whereas CO2 has the largest impact on long-term climate. This article explores the reasons for these differences and examines why it is important to consider them when designing effective climate mitigation policies. It argues that clear communication on the different time horizons relevant for CO2 vs. SLCP mitigation is important for clarifying climate policy discussions and ethical decisions regarding the relative importance of near-term vs. long-term effects. It also argues that using a 100-year time horizon as primary basis for evaluating climate effects undervalues the positive near-term effects that can be achieved via SLCP mitigation –including for health, food security and sustainable development – and thus fails to take full advantage of near-term interests to motivate action.

Rising carbon dioxide is decreasing nutrition in crops and endangering health among the less wealthy

Carbon dioxide levels are rising globally. The increasing CO2 levels reduce the concentration of nutrients in many of the crops that are consumed worldwide (wheat, rice, barley, maize, legumes, and potatoes). The larger effects for human health are concentrated in regions that heavily rely on these crops for their nutrition such as South and Southeast Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Because these effects are likely to be hidden, we should better monitor the nutritional status of populations as well as crop nutrient content over the coming decades.

Heat stress and inadequate toilet access at work places in India – a potential hazard to working women in a changing climate

In the past few decades, increasingly blistering heat due to climate change has created more illnesses and claimed more lives worldwide, an issue mostly ignored because it's an invisible hazard and hard-to-document disaster. Victims are usually vulnerable populations, including workers exposed on a daily basis to heat, who not only suffer from heat illnesses but also from an exacerbation of existing health problems aggravated by heat and dehydration. Research has proved that heat is a higher risk for female workers, who are affected far more often than their male counterparts. India’s informal economy is dominated by the female workforce and many informal workplaces have minimal welfare facilities including toilets. One of the modifiable factors that influence workplace psychology is the lack of access to a private toilet. To avoid embarrassment or harassment, many women refrain from drinking water during the day in order to limit their trips to the toilet, a potentially deadly strategy during hot seasons which has adverse health consequences. A global trend especially in developing nations evidences a higher number of women entering the workforce. With this trend and rising temperatures, the issue is expected to escalate to significant proportions unless workplace interventions and policy level actions are taken at a national level to protect women workers.

Will climate change worsen your health?

Nearly 8% of deaths in Europe are due to ambient temperatures, and global warming represents an additional threat for public health. Despite the fact that we expect more frequent, intense and persistent heat waves during the present century, it is actually not clear whether the number of attributable deaths will also increase. Here I discuss why the role of early adaptation to temperature rise is a major ongoing research topic in science and policy-making, and how these eventual acclimatization processes depend on a myriad of non-climate factors such as the air quality in cities, social differences within and between societies, demographic changes or the evolution of the economy.

The impact of climate change will hit urban dwellers first – Can green infrastructure save us?

Two phenomena that can cause large numbers of premature human deaths have gained attention in the last years: heat waves and air pollution. These two effects have two things in common: They are closely related to climate change and they are particularly intense in urban areas. Urban areas are particular susceptible to these impacts because they can store lots of heat and have little opportunity for cooling off (also known as the urban heat island effect). In order to mitigate these impacts and to establish an environment that protects human health and improve well-being, implementation of green infrastructure – trees, green walls, and green roofs – is commonly proposed as a remedy. More trees, hedges and lawns are intuitively welcome by people living in cities for their beautifying effects, but to which degree can such greening actually counterbalance the expected effects of climate change? In this review I would like to investigate what science can offer to answer this question.

Increasing heat creates hardship for brick kiln workers in Chennai, India and the alternative pathways reducing it

Climate change brings new burdens to people working outdoors. Migrant populations working at brick kilns in India are one such group facing dangerously overheated working conditions. Many migrate to the kilns from rural areas under bonded labor conditions. We argue that solutions need to go beyond industry-oriented technology-based solutions and focus on the social problem and take a people focused stance. In addition to adopting more locally appropriate technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and heat in the work environment, solutions focusing on the workers situation must be considered from a human rights perspective.