Public Health Implications of Drought in a Climate Change Context: A Critical Review

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Extreme weather events are expected to increase due to climate change, which could pose an additional burden of morbidity and mortality. In recent decades, drought severity has increased in several regions around the world, affecting health by increasing the risk of water-, food-, and vector-borne diseases, malnutrition, cardiovascular and respiratory illness, mental health disorders, and mortality. Drought frequency and severity are expected to worsen across large regions as a result of a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature and atmospheric evaporative demand, posing a pressing challenge for public health. Variation in impacts among countries and communities is due to multiple factors, such as aging, socioeconomic status, access to health care, and gender, affecting population resilience. Integrative proactive action plans focused on risk management are required, and resources should be transferred to developing countries to reduce their vulnerability and risk.

C.S. was financially supported by the ED481B-2021-122 grant from the Xunta de Galicia, Spain. The EPhysLab group was cofunded by Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Universidade, under project ED431C 2021/44 “Programa de Consolidación e Estructuración de Unidades de Investigación Competitivas.” This study is also supported by “Unidad Asociada CSIC–Universidade de Vigo: Grupo de Física de la Atmosfera y del Océano.” Authors from EPhysLab-UVigo (Spain) and ISPM-UniBe (Switzerland) are part of the Ibero- American Women Network for Climate Action (IBWoClimA).

Peer reviewed