Pregnant women, newborns, children, adolescents and older people are facing serious health complications due to climate change, according to a new collection of papers published in the Journal of Global Health, and yet the specific needs of these groups have been largely neglected in the climate response.

The articles document the available scientific evidence on the health impacts of different climate hazards at key life stages, from heatwaves to air pollution and natural disasters like wildfires and flooding. Together, they show that climate-related health risks have been crucially underestimated for younger and older people and during pregnancy, with serious, often life-threatening implications.

Taking extreme heat as an example, the authors note that preterm births – the leading cause of childhood deaths – spike during heatwaves, while older people are more likely to suffer heart attacks or respiratory distress. Each additional 1°C in minimum daily temperature over 23.9°C has been shown to increase the risk of infant mortality by as much as 22.4%.

“These studies show clearly that climate change is not a distant health threat, and that certain populations are already paying a high price,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO). “While awareness of climate change has increased, actions to safeguard the lives of those at most risk has barely scratched the surface of what’s needed. For climate justice to be achieved, this must be urgently redressed.”

Authored by experts from WHO and academics from around the world, the collection, titled Climate change across the lifecourse, reports a number of specific physical and mental health impacts that arise due to different climate hazards. For example:

High temperatures are associated with adverse birth outcomes, primarily preterm birth and stillbirth, as well as hypertension and gestational diabetes in pregnancy. Heatwaves affect cognitive function and therefore learning for children and adolescents, while increasing heart attacks and respiratory complications among older people.
Ambient air pollution increases the likelihood of high blood pressure during pregnancy, low birth weight, preterm birth, and negative impacts on foetal brain and lung development. It raises risk of respiratory illness among children and older people, who also face greater risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and pneumonia.