Climate change, or global warming, is now universally recognized as a major challenge for humanity in the 21st century. The potential consequences of unchecked climate change are well documented—rise in sea levels causing floods in coastal areas and rendering agriculture unviable there, destruction of food crops, spread of diseases, large parts of the world being rendered uninhabitable for humans.

Research studies shows that increase in the global temperature has a profound impact on the health and well-being of people throughout the world. These impacts will be felt by humans in several different ways. First, health will be affected as a result of extreme hot or cold temperatures that could result in illness and death on account of frequent intensity of windstorms and rainstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes, etc. According to World Health Organization, increased temperature is the main reason behind 2.4 percent of reported diarrhea cases across the world. Similarly 2 percent of malaria cases are due to warm climate that is considered favorable for breeding of mosquitoes. Climate and global warming also lead to diseases like West Nile virus fever, Lyme disease and Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome and water-borne and food-related illnesses like giardiasis, E. coli infection. Further, high intensity of UV radiation that occurs as a result of warm atmosphere is a leading cause of skin cancer and cataracts.

Heat causes mortality on account of the inability of human body to remain cool after a specified limit. For a temperature under human endurance, human body keeps cool by perspiring that causes evaporation, thereby cooling the body. However, under condition of extreme heat and high humidity, the mentioned cooling process gets slowed down as a result of which the work-load of human body to maintain a normal temperature increases substantially causing greater chances of organ failures. Apart from organ failures, heat waves lead to such adverse health effects like heat cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Climate change entailed a rise in the incidence of water- and food-borne illnesses in various forms due mostly to thrive of the bacteria, viruses and protozoa in warm weather. Besides, increased rainfall causes these pathogens to get deposited in water and thereby causing contamination. Warming of the climate also leads to rapid spread of vector-borne diseases in several ways. The warmth of the climate is a determining factor with respect of the life span of bloodsucking insects, like mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, etc. Cooler climate destroys the eggs, larvae or adults insects.

Medical statistics showed that groups susceptible to warm climate include the elderly and people with weak hearts or having cardiac diseases.

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