Non-heat related impacts of climate change on working populations

Environmental and social changes associated with climate change are likely to have impacts on the well-being, health, and productivity of many working populations across the globe. The ramifications of climate change for working populations are not restricted to increases in heat exposure. Other significant risks to worker health (including physical hazards from extreme weather events, infectious diseases, under-nutrition, and mental stresses) may be amplified by future climate change, and these may have substantial impacts at all scales of economic activity. Some of these risks are difficult to quantify, but pose a substantial threat to the viability and sustainability of some working populations. These impacts may occur in both developed and developing countries, although the latter category is likely to bear the heaviest burden

Impacts of Climate Change on Inequities in Child Health

This paper addresses an often overlooked aspect of climate change impacts on child health: the amplification of existing child health inequities by climate change. Although the effects of climate change on child health will likely be negative, the distribution of these impacts across populations will be uneven. The burden of climate change-related ill-health will fall heavily on the world’s poorest and socially-disadvantaged children, who already have poor survival rates and low life expectancies due to issues including poverty, endemic disease, undernutrition, inadequate living conditions and socio-economic disadvantage. Climate change will exacerbate these existing inequities to disproportionately affect disadvantaged children. We discuss heat stress, extreme weather events, vector-borne diseases and undernutrition as exemplars of the complex interactions between climate change and inequities in child health

The Importance of Humidity in the Relationship between Heat and Population Mental Health: Evidence from Australia

<div><p>Despite many studies on the effects of heat on mental health, few studies have examined humidity. In order to investigate the relationship among heat, humidity and mental health, we matched data from the Social, Economic and Environmental Factors (SEEF) project with gridded daily temperature and water vapour pressure data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Logit models were employed to describe the associations among heat (assessed using temperature, °C), humidity (assessed using vapour pressure, hPa) and two measures of mental health, (i) high or very high distress (assessed using K10 scores ≥ 22) and (ii) having been treated for depression or anxiety. We found a one-unit increase in temperature and vapour pressure was associated with an increase in the occurrence of high or very high distress by 0.2% (<i>p</i> < 0.001, 99% CI: 0.1–0.3%) and 0.1% (<i>p</i> < 0.001, 99% CI: 0.0–0.3%) respectively. However, when humidity rose to the 99^<i>th</i> percentile of the sample, the estimated marginal effect of heat was more than doubled (0.5%, <i>p</i> < 0.001, 99% CI: 0.2–0.7%). Neither heat nor humidity was related to having been treated for depression or anxiety in the last month. Humidity compounds the negative association between hot weather and mental health and thus should be taken into account when reforming the health care system to respond to the challenge of climate change.</p></div

Non-linear associations between temperature (heat), vapour pressure (humidity) and mental health, Logit model, 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.

<p>Non-linear associations between temperature (heat), vapour pressure (humidity) and mental health, Logit model, 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.</p

Marginal effects of heat on high or very high distress and on receiving treatment for depression or anxiety by humidity (vapour pressure) and their 99% confidential intervals, Logit model (Model 4), 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.

<p>Marginal effects of heat on high or very high distress and on receiving treatment for depression or anxiety by humidity (vapour pressure) and their 99% confidential intervals, Logit model (Model 4), 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.</p

Proportions of respondents by socio-demographic characteristics and humidity status.

<p>Proportions of respondents by socio-demographic characteristics and humidity status.</p

Marginal effects of humidity on high or very high distress and on receiving treatment for depression or anxiety by temperature and their 99% confidential intervals, Logit model (Model 4), 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.

<p>Marginal effects of humidity on high or very high distress and on receiving treatment for depression or anxiety by temperature and their 99% confidential intervals, Logit model (Model 4), 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.</p

The associations between temperature (heat), vapour pressure (humidity) and mental health, Logit model for 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.

<p>The associations between temperature (heat), vapour pressure (humidity) and mental health, Logit model for 53,144 adults aged over 45 from NSW, Australia.</p

Ambient wood smoke exposure and respiratory symptoms in Tasmania, Australia

Wood smoke exposure has been associated with adverse respiratory health outcomes, with much of the current research focused on wood smoke from domestic heating and cooking. This study examined the association between respiratory symptoms and outdoor woo