Over 100,000 coal burning related deaths in 2018: The Lancet Countdown 2020 report

Climate change-induced shocks are claiming lives, damaging health and disrupting livelihoods. The recently released 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change presents a grim picture of India with an increase in extreme weather events, health impact and loss of livelihoods.

Shivani Gupta
| Updated: Last updated on December 7th, 2020,

Photo: Pixabay

In 2019 India saw a record number of above-baseline days of heatwave exposure affecting people aged over 65, at almost 775 million. A year before that, in 2018, the country witnessed the second-highest — 31,000 heat-related deaths globally after China (62,000). The same year, burning of coal by households, power plants and industry was responsible for almost 100,000 deaths in the country. 

Exposure to high temperatures and heatwaves, brought upon by climate change, has resulted in a range of health impacts and increased livelihood risks . Of the total 302 billion work hours lost across the globe, India accounted 40 per cent of it.

These are some of the crucial findings of ‘The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change’, a collaboration between experts from more than 35 institutions including the World Health Organization (WHO), World Meteorological Organization, led by University College London. By tackling climate and pandemic crises, millions of people’s health can be improved and lives saved, notes the recently released 2020 report. 

According to the report, the world is already warmed by more than 1·2 degree Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels, resulting in profound, immediate, and rapidly worsening health effects. This year, December 12, will mark the anniversary of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Five years ago, countries across the globe, including India, committed to limit global warming below 2 degree Celsius as part of the agreement. Five years on, and global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to rise steadily.

The Lancet Countdown report confirms the impact of climate change on human health. Two thirds of 800 cities surveyed globally expect climate change to compromise public health infrastructure.

Unless urgent action is taken, climate change will increasingly threaten global health, disrupt lives and livelihoods, and overwhelm healthcare systems, warns the report.

Labourers working in extreme heat. Photo: Gaon Connection

Exposure to high temperatures and heat waves results in a range of negative health impacts, from morbidity and mortality due to heat stress and heatstroke to exacerbations of cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

Since 2010, there has been an increase in the number of days of heatwave exposure, relative to a 1986–2005 baseline, in the population older than 65 years (see figure 1). This rise is driven by the combination of increasing heatwave occurrences and elderly populations.

The Lancet Countdown 2020 report shows India saw a record number of above-baseline days of heatwave exposure affecting people aged over 65, at almost 775 million in 2019. Also, eight out of the 10 highest ranking years of heatwave exposure in India have occurred since 2010. Meanwhile, heat-related deaths in the over-65s have more than doubled since the early 2000s to more than 31,000 in 2018 in the country.

Source: The Lancet Countdown report

“Climate change drives a cruel wedge which widens existing health inequalities between and within countries. Our report shows that – just as for COVID-19 – older people are particularly vulnerable,” said Hugh Montgomery, co-chair, Lancet Countdown, and an intensive care doctor, based at University College London.

The report also shows that from 2000 to 2018, heat-related deaths in people older than 65 years increased by 53·7 per cent globally. And, in 2018, it reached 296,000 deaths, the majority of which occurred in Japan, eastern China, northern India, and central Europe.

“The threats to human health are multiplying and intensifying due to climate change, and unless we change course, our healthcare systems are at risk of being overwhelmed in the future,” said Ian Hamilton, executive director of the Lancet Countdown.

100,000 deaths in 2018 in India due to coal burning

As per the latest Lancet report, coal combustion continues to be the largest contributor to emissions from the energy sector and is a major contributor to premature mortality due to air pollution. In India, coal combustion by households, power plants and industry was responsible for almost 100,000 deaths in 2018. 

Source: The Lancet Countdown 2020 report

Further, the report notes 91 per cent of deaths from ambient air pollution occur in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet report shows absolute numbers of deaths from air pollution are greatest in countries such as India, which sees nearly half a million deaths a year from the main source of outdoor air pollution.

118.3 billion work hours lost in India in 2019

Climate change-induced shocks are claiming lives, damaging health and disrupting livelihoods in all parts of the world right now. Livelihoods are at risk too as heat is increasingly affecting people’s ability to work outdoors in developing regions. This brings significant economic implications.

Last year saw a continued loss in productivity, with India accounting for 40 per cent of the total 302 billion work hours lost. In India, a potential 118.3 billion of work hours were lost in 2019, which is 43 billion hours more than that lost in 2000.

Source: The Lancet Countdown 2020 report

Exposure to extreme weather events

Climate change-induced extreme weather events, including wildfires, storms, floods, and droughts affect human health in several ways. Death and injury are often compounded by effects which are mediated through the environment.

The exacerbation of respiratory symptoms from wildfire smoke, the spread of vector-borne and water-borne diseases following a flood or drought are a few examples.

Compared to the period, 2001–04, there was an increase in the risk of wildfire in 114 (58 per cent) of 196 countries in 2016–19, with the largest increases occurring in Lebanon, Kenya, and South Africa.

The health impacts are seen on every continent, with the ongoing spread of dengue virus across South America, the cardiovascular and respiratory effects of record heatwaves and wildfires in Australia, western North America, and western Europe, and the undernutrition and mental health effects of floods and droughts in China, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and South Africa.

Dengue patients in a village in India. Photo: Gaon Connection

The recent Lancet report also explains that climate change is leading to more favourable conditions for the spread of deadly infectious diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, and vibriosis – putting at risk the decades of progress in tackling these diseases.

As per the report, by limiting temperature increases to well below 2°C, and aligning climate and pandemic recovery, the world can deliver near-term and long-term health and economic benefits.

“With trillions being invested globally in economic support and stimulus there is a genuine opportunity to align the responses to the pandemic and climate change to deliver a triple win – one that improves public health, creates a sustainable economy and protects the environment,” said Maria Neira, director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization.

“But time is short. Failure to tackle these converging crises in tandem will lock in huge amounts of fossil fuels, moving the world’s 1.5C target out of reach and condemning the world to a future of climate-induced health shocks,” she added.

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