Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Climate change is recognized as one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st century, with cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading global cause of death, sensitive to direct and indirect effects.1,2 In recent years, climate-related extremes have intensified in frequency and severity. Examples include the 2022 heatwaves in India, Pakistan, Spain, and Italy, the 2021 Central European flood, and the 2020-2023 prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa. Such events are projected to become more frequent and prolonged in a future climate.3 Rising temperatures, extreme heat and cold, floods, wildfires, and poor air quality contribute to excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality across settings.4 Heatwaves increase the risks of myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmias, and cardiovascular deaths; floods and storms precipitate adverse health outcomes through physical stress, infections, and psychosocial strain. Indirect effects (e.g. food insecurity, displacement, economic instability, and healthcare disruption) add further risk, particularly in strained health systems. Impacts are unevenly distributed: children, older adults, and those with chronic disease have reduced thermal tolerance, while socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority groups face greater exposure and barriers to adaptation.4 Risks are highest in many low- and middle-income countries, where rapid urbanization, limited infrastructure, and constrained health systems heighten vulnerability. Climate change thus acts as both a hazard multiplier and a driver of cardiovascular disparities.
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7160239573