29/05/2026
Effect of Global warming on health in the UK By Duncan Colin Jones
With summer on the way Duncan gave a talk on the impact of Global warming on human health. He was encouraged to do so having read a recent report on this in the British Medical Journal. The World Health Organisation says that a health crisis caused by global warming is already upon us and experts on the topic say that global warming is just starting leading to the view that “the train has gone”.
Global warming is leading to heat waves, the definition of which varies depending on where you live. If you live in London, for example, 3 consecutive days over 28 degrees centigrade would constitute a heat wave, in Hampshire a heat wave is defined as 27 degrees C, and last year there were 4 such periods.
The effects of this upon us can be serious and the number of deaths attributable to heat waves is rising. The young and the oldest are particularly at risk. Heatstroke, when your body temperature rises above 39 degrees, is particularly dangerous. It leads to confusion, shortness of breath and poor coordination. Taking your temperature to help monitor this is encouraged as is sleeping in the shade and wearing pale clothes for example. Drinking plenty of water (sorry, not gin!) is crucial.
Raised temperatures also lead to more evaporation with greater risks of flooding as a consequence. Just 2 degrees increase in temperature can result in a 61% increase in flood risk. However, an increase in temperature can also lead to water shortages. So, keep bottles of drinking water available for emergencies and have a water butt to collect water for purposes such as toilet flushing.
Eating, and indeed eating well, is essential for good health. However, with 62% of our food overall being imported, and 78% of our fruit and vegetable being imported, we are at risk if global food production decreases. And there is a danger of this happening as predicted rises in temperature are likely to lead to crop failures.
A further danger arising from increased temperatures is that parasites that cause illness or disease become more commonplace. A nasty example is cryptosporidium which can be found in farm animals and with poor hygiene can be transferred to humans. It can even get into the water supply – Portsmouth Water company has already had to take action to deal with this bug in the Meon valley source of its water. There is no treatment for people but within about six weeks most get better. Potentially more harmful is the increase in Lyme disease caused by bites from ticks found on deer and rodents. This requires early treatment by antibiotics to prevent nerve damage.
Increased temperatures are also giving rise to a greater risk of diseases previously associated with warmer countries. Examples include malaria and dengue fever. The latter used to be an infection in the tropics but it has recently been occurring in Italy, southern France and Portugal, and is spreading north.
Nowadays, planning travel abroad should also include a search on line for health risks in the planned destination. Zika virus illustrates this all too well, as it used to be confined to the Amazon, but has now spread northwards into the Caribbean and southern states of the USA. It is spread by mosquitos but seldom causes severe illness, however, if a woman is pregnant, the virus can get into the foetus and it damage the growing brain catastrophically. So if a young family plans to travel to that area, check and then plan carefully.
In conclusion Duncan urged us to be aware that global warming and its impacts are close at hand. We all have responsibility to do what we can to limit this.
