How Climate Change Affects Your Health

The document details how climate change exacerbates health risks in Canada, including heat-related illnesses, air pollution, mental health issues, and the spread of vector-borne diseases. It highlights that extreme weather events threaten critical infrastructure and food and water security, while citing the World Health Organization's view of climate change as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.

• Heat waves cause heat stroke, premature deaths, and the aggravation of heart and lung conditions, with extremely hot days projected to double or triple in the next 30 years if emissions are not slowed. These events are most dangerous for the very young, older people, and those with chronic diseases.
• Air pollution in Canada results in roughly 14,000 early deaths annually and increases risks for respiratory disease, lung cancer, strokes, and heart disease. Climate change worsens air quality through increased pollen spikes, dust from droughts, and wildfires.
• Climate change facilitates the spread of vector-borne diseases across Canada; specifically, West Nile Virus has affected over 6,000 Canadians over two decades, and Lyme Disease has affected more than 2,000 people across several provinces.
• Extreme weather events in Canada, with approximately 200 disaster-level events reported in the last decade, increase the risk of death and injury and can disrupt access to health care, emergency services, food supplies, power, and safe water.
• Climate change threatens food and water security through flooding, rising sea levels, melting permafrost, droughts, and high temperatures, which can contaminate crops and drinking water or disrupt supplies.
• Mental health is impacted by climate change through anxiety, depression, and PTSD resulting from evacuations and extreme weather, as well as anxiety regarding threats to communities, homes, and ways of life.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (2019). How Climate Change Affects Your Health. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Patient-Factsheet-Sept.-2019.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. How Climate Change Affects Your Health. 2019. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Patient-Factsheet-Sept.-2019.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=How Climate Change Affects Your Health |date=September 2019 |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Patient-Factsheet-Sept.-2019.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironment2019how, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{How Climate Change Affects Your Health}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Patient-Factsheet-Sept.-2019.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }