Agencies
LONDON, MARCH 3
New research suggests climate change could kill more than 500,000 adults worldwide in 2050, due to changes in diets and bodyweight resulting from reduced crop production. The study, published today in The Lancet, is the first of its kind to model and assess the impact of climate change on diet composition and bodyweight.
The results include detailed estimates for additional deaths in 155 countries in 2050, and present strong evidence that climate change could have damaging consequences for food production and health worldwide.
“Much research has looked at food security, but little has focused on the wider health effects of agricultural production,” says lead author, population health researcher Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford.
“Changes in food availability and intake also affect dietary and weight-related risk factors such as low fruit and vegetable intake, high red meat consumption, and high bodyweight.”
“These all increase the incidence of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer, as well as death from those diseases,” Springmann explains, adding that the results show – even modest reductions in the availability of food per person could lead to major health consequences.
The authors say cutting emissions could lead to substantial health benefits, and could drop the number of climate related deaths by up to 71% depending on the strength of the intervention.
