Extreme Medicine: Climate Change and Emerging Threats

Written with the aid of Ai

Extreme medicine will play an increasingly important role in addressing the emerging threats posed by climate change. As climate change accelerates, and results in more frequent and severe weather events, natural disasters, and shifts in disease patterns. Extreme medicine focuses on providing medical care and support in extreme environments, including disaster zones, remote locations, and areas affected by climate-related crises.??

The list below is a top-level list of challenges climate change poses for human health and the medical community, and I suspect many more will appear.

1. Disaster Response & Relief: Extreme medicine professionals are trained to respond rapidly and effectively to natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes. They are able to provide emergency medical care, triage, and evacuation support in chaotic, resource-information-poor environments.

2. Humanitarian Aid in Climate-affected Areas: Exacerbating existing humanitarian crises, displacing communities, and compromising access to clean water and food will increase the risks of disease outbreaks, as evidenced in the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake. With access to multidisciplinary skills, extreme medicine teams will play a crucial role in delivering medical aid and assistance to vulnerable populations in climate-affected regions where mobility and problem-solving are of paramount importance.

3. Climate-related Health Risks Management: Climate change will amplify health risks such as heat-related illnesses, infectious diseases, and respiratory ailments. Extreme medicine specialists will need to develop strategies to mitigate these risks, provide medical care to affected individuals, and implement public health interventions to mitigate the spread of previously absent diseases as a result of changing environmental conditions.

4. Remote & Expedition Medicine: As climate change alters ecosystems and landscapes, it will create new challenges for individuals working or living in remote and wilderness areas. Extreme medicine practitioners are equipped to provide medical care in isolated locations where access to traditional healthcare facilities may be limited or non-existent.

5. Research & Innovation: Extreme medicine professionals will contribute to research efforts to understand climate change's health impacts and develop innovative solutions to address emerging challenges. This includes developing new medical technologies, treatments, and protocols tailored to extreme environmental conditions.

6. Community Resilience & Adaptation: Extreme medicine teams work alongside communities to build resilience and adaptability to climate change impacts. This may involve training local healthcare workers, conducting disaster preparedness workshops, and developing community-based healthcare strategies developed in response to extreme weather events.

7. Advocacy & Policy Engagement: Extreme medicine practitioners advocate for policies and initiatives that address the root causes of climate change and prioritize the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. They are able to engage with policymakers, public health agencies, and international organizations to raise awareness about the health impacts of climate change and promote sustainable solutions.

Climate change will impact zoonotic diseases:

• Changes in Vector Distribution: Climate change is already altering the distribution and abundance of vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks, which carry diseases such as Malaria, Dengue Fever, Lyme Disease, and West Nile virus. Warmer temperatures and altered precipitation patterns expands the range of these vectors, potentially exposing new populations to these diseases.
• Altered Host Range: Climate change influences the habitats and behavior of animal hosts, expanding their ranges or bringing them into closer contact with human populations. This increased interaction can facilitate the transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans. For example, changes in temperature and precipitation patterns can affect the distribution of rodents, which can carry diseases such as hantavirus and leptospirosis.
• Ecological Disruption: Climate change leads to ecological disruption, including changes in ecosystems and biodiversity loss. Such disruptions change the dynamics of disease transmission by affecting the populations and contact points of both hosts and vectors.
• Impact on Waterborne Diseases: Climate change influences the availability and quality of water sources, which affects the transmission of waterborne diseases such as cholera and cryptosporidiosis. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns can lead to fluctuations in water levels, creating conditions conducive to the proliferation of waterborne pathogens.

Overall, extreme medicine practitioners stand to play a vital role in safeguarding human health and well-being in the face of climate change-induced challenges, helping communities adapt to a rapidly changing environment, and mitigating the impacts of extreme weather events and environmental disasters.

Further reading

• Lancet Countdown on Climate Change and Health: Policy Brief from Médecins Sans Frontières 2023. https://scienceportal.msf.org/assets/8586
• WHO. Climate Change. https://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change#tab=tab_1
• No Time to Lose – New Scenario Narratives for Action on Climate Change

University of Exeter Faculty of Health and Life Sciences University of Exeter Northeastern University, Bouvé College of Health Sciences British Chamber of Commerce Dubai (BCCD) World Extreme Medicine | B Corp Certified

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