What Global Public Health Masters Students Should Know About Climate Change and World Health

Climate change could lead to numerous health problems across the globe

Beyond the threats it poses to the natural world, climate change is expected to compound global health challenges in the coming decades. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will account for up to 250,000 deaths, exacerbating health factors like malnutrition, malaria and heat stress. An emerging priority for health experts, global warming challenges already limited health systems in many parts of the world.

A Global Public Health degree can prepare students for rewarding careers, not least in addressing the health concerns of climate change. Meeting these challenges will require joint efforts from the medical community, governments and civil society, engaging them all in key initiatives and mitigation strategies.

Are you interested in a career in global public health? Keep reading to learn more about the public health threats of climate change.

Health Experts Identify Complex Climate Change Risks

With temperatures likely to rise over 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, global warming poses great infrastructural challenges for disease prevention. Among the greatest risks, rising temperatures are expected to cause dangerous heat exposure and facilitate the spread of malaria and diarrheal diseases.

Climate change is also a crucial factor in malnutrition, with floods, droughts and natural disasters cutting off food supplies. While areas with limited or struggling health systems will be most affected, greater heat exposure is also a health risk in industrialised nations.

According to the WHO, children under 5 years of age experience over 88 percent of the health burden associated with climate change. Assessing climate change risks for future generations, the medical community highlights adverse effects on global paediatric health.

Understanding climate change risks can help medical practitioners anticipate challenges

In a 2015 policy statement on Global Climate Change and Children's Health, the Council on Environmental Health noted a number of unique paediatric health risks, ranging from increased heat stress and decreased air quality to the physical and psychological sequelae of weather disasters. When combined over the globe, factors like these may significantly increase child mortality and morbidity.

Climate Change is an Emerging Global Health Priority

Some global health experts argue that climate change is not yet receiving the attention it deserves. According to the Harvard Global Health Institute, these health risks merit greater research and understanding and joint initiatives across disciplines.

Moreover, the institute notes that existing health initiatives must pay greater attention to how climate change might alter their mission and future objectives. By prioritising global public health, the scientific community might also be more effective in conveying a necessary reduction of greenhouse gases.

While pursuing their Global Public Health degree, students can track existing initiatives on health and climate change. In 2015, for instance, the WHO launched a work plan on climate change and health, coordinating joint priorities with UN-affiliated organisations.

The WHO prioritises partnerships in highlighting climate risks for global health

The plan aims to raise awareness of climate change risks, incorporating them within a global research agenda. It also aims to build capacity among affected health systems, and leverages global health in advocating for carbon cuts.

Graduates Can Help Address These Issues After a Global Public Health Degree

Combining modules on climate change and public health policy, a leading Global Public Health Masters can prepare future academics and policymakers to address this issue head-on. Global Public Health degrees with a global focus encourage students to grasp the combined economic and geopolitical factors that weigh on health systems around the world. This kind of wide-ranging insight will prove crucial as academics, policymakers and medical practitioners pool resources to mitigate the global health consequences of climate change. 

Global Public health students can pursue rewarding opportunities in this field. In addition to governmental initiatives on health and the environment, students can implement their expertise within international organisations supporting health systems around the world. For instance, NGOs like Health Care Without Harm and the Centre for Climate Change & Health continue to prioritise this issue, advocating for joint efforts in securing the future of global health.

Learn more about QMUL's flexible online Global Public Health MSc.