Public Health and Climate Change: Do We Need a More Proactive Approach?

Nowadays, climate changes are a major concern for all of us. The actual data allows us to project a rise in the mean temperatures up to 5.8 ° C at the end of this century, and it is conceivable that extreme climate events will be even more common [1, 2] and one of the most important environmental threats in the 21st century. Health may be affected directly through extreme temperatures, namely heat and cold waves, floods, storms and droughts [3]. It is also important to point out the high possibility of an increased frequency of waterand foodborne diseases and a change in the pattern of rodentand vector-borne diseases [4]. Health may also be indirectly affected in many ways, not only by a methodological food production disruption, but also by a decrease in the food quality and an increase in the economic burden to guarantee availability and safety [5, 6]. Warmer temperatures increase the concentrations of air pollutants, and this signifies a health impact on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems [7]. Moreover, changes in temperature and rainfall patterns, particularly extreme events, might enhance the spread of infectious diseases. As far as the latter are concerned, it is important to remember the influence of temperature on the life cycle of some pathogenic agents and vectors, including their distribution [2, 4, 8]. Among others, diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and many diarrhoeal diseases are testament to this danger at a global level [9, 10]. Climate changes influence, for instance, the mosquitoes’ distribution, such as that of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, among others, and, as stated above, this will have an influence on the distribution profile of infectious diseases [11]. Additionally, the impact of climate change on mental health has been described but still needs to be fully understood to allow the implementation of preventive actions [12]. A rise in the number of natural disasters is to be expected and will certainly have a colossal impact on the population’s health, particularly on mortality, but also on injuries, disabilities, diseases and emotional changes [10]. Examples of natural disasters are floods and hurricanes that may cause devastating situations, such as drowning and trauma with lives lost, risks related to water and food provision, changes in the distribution and concentration dynamics of vectors, as well as damage to material, including health infrastructure [3]. Additional effects of climate change, for example the rise of the mean sea level, may at some locations cause people’s dislocation from coastal borders, with abandonment of their houses, to live at another, less dangerous place. These people are frequently called “climate refugees.” At the other end of the spectrum, we need to consider droughts. These are prolonged dry periods of time with a huge impact on the health of populations, leading to an increase in morbidity and mortality, malnutrition due to the scarcity of available food, risk of infectious and waterborne diseases, risks related to the agglomeration of displaced people, psychosocial stress as well as many other factors affecting mental health. Fires are also a frequent