Abstract
Weather and climate play a significant role in people’s health. Changing climate has direct or indirect effects on
health, all over the world. The adverse effects of climate change will mostly be seen in Least Developed Countries,
which are already burdened with world’s most prominent climate sensitive health challenges. This paper makes an
attempt to highlight the negative impacts of changing climate on health and establish the need for linking climate
change and health adaptation with sustainable development. A comprehensive summary of the epidemiological
evidence of climate sensitive health outcomes and particularly vulnerable groups has also been presented here.
The importance of health has long been recognized in climate policy. Public health depends on safe drinking
water, sufficient food, secure shelter, and good social conditions. A changing climate is likely to affect all of these
conditions. But with planned adaptive strategies, a lot of its adverse impact can be mitigated and losses can be
minimized.
Acronyms/Abbriviations
COP: Conference of Parties, DALY: Disability Adjusted Life Years, GDP: Gross Domestic Product, GLOF: Glacial
Lakes Outburst Flood, IPCC: International Panel on Climate Change, LDCs: Least Developed Countries, MDG:
Millennium Development Goals, NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, World Health Organization