The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health and Overview of Enviromental Performance Index (Epi)

What is Climate Change? 

Climate change is a notable peril to the health of humans. According to the NASA:

“Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that define Earth’s local, regional, and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term”

When Climate Changes Have been Observed?

In the Mid-20th century, rapid shifts were observed in Earth’s climate changes. Scientists and researchers believe that is driven by purely human activities, predominantly fossil fuel burning, which enhances heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, stimulating Earth’s average surface temperature. 

Moreover, climate changes including internal Variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and external forcings (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy output, variations in Earth’s orbit) are happening due to overwhelmed disturbance in Natural processes by human activities.

Why Climate change is a significant threat to the health of the People?

Climate change is a significant threat to the health of mankind. It has been observed that human-induced climate change impacts are increasing around the world. In the year 2024, Yale School of the Environment has combined 58 indicators across 11 issue categories, ranging from climate change mitigation and air pollution to waste management, sustainability of fisheries and agriculture, deforestation, and biodiversity protection to examine the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) among 180 countries. In this regard, the top five countries which had exceptional EPI scores are below: 

Top 5 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) Countries:

Reference: https://epi.yale.edu/measure/2024/EPI

The top-ranked EPI score countries are Estonia, Luxembourg, Germany, Finland, and the United Kingdom with scores of 75.7, 75.1, 74.5, 73.8, and 72.6 respectively. These top 5 countries are positive from European countries which are taking extreme measures to protect the environment. 

Least Environmental Performance Index Countries:

In Comparison 5 countries that have the least EPI scores that are badly or extremely affected by climate change are below:

In the above table, we can see that all Asian countries are badly impacted due to climate change. In this list, Vietnam is on a 180 ranking (last) with 24.6 EPI performance indicators. India is on 176 with an EPI of 27.6, Myanmar is on 177 with 27.1, Laos is on 178 with 26.3 and Pakistan is in second last no (179) with an EPI score is 25.5. These countries are extremely impacted by global warming and shifts in patterns. 

Below is the chart/ graph representation of the Environmental Performance Index ranking score by country. Highest Score Vs Lowest Score trend analysis:

Below is a graph/ chart representation of the relationship by region. In the following charts, information and analysis variables are EPI Score and Climate change with relationship by region:

What are the Causes of Climate Change? 

Many factors are causing climate change and impacting human life. In recent years, the concentration of rising greenhouse gas emissions has directly impacted or increased the temperature, and changes in precipitation, enhancing the frequency and intensity of extreme or harsh weather events e.g. very cold and very hot and rising sea levels. 

These climate change influences endanger our health by affecting our food, water sources (glaciers are melting), the air we breathe (quality of air), the weather we experience (harsh weather), and our interactions with the built and natural environments. As the climate continues to change, the risks to human health continue to grow.

Current and Future Climate Change Impacts:

Current and future climate change impacts expose more people in more places to public health threats. As observed climate-related increases in our exposure to raised temperatures; more regular, severe, or longer-lasting extreme events; degraded air quality; diseases transmitted through food, water, and disease vectors (such as ticks and mosquitoes); and stresses to our mental health and well-being. 

Almost all these threats/risks are expected to impair with continual climate change. Some of these health coercions will occur over longer time periods, or at unprecedented times of the year; some people will be exposed to threats not previously experienced in their locations. Overall, instances of potentially beneficial health impacts of climate change are limited in number and pertain to specific regions or populations. For example, the reduction in cold-related deaths is projected to be smaller than the increase in heat-related deaths in most regions.

In last it is concluded that Earth’s climate change is badly impacting human life. It’s the world leader’s responsibility to take positive measures to control or slow this speed. Otherwise, the world will be worse.