Page - 30 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

30 (duration and intensity) of events are expected to increase in the future and to be compounded further by other influencing trends, such as an ageing population with higher sensitivity to impacts, the potential for maladaptation in some health and social care systems and the potential for combined impacts from other climate- related hazards, such as drought, fire and poor air quality (European Environment Agency 2017; Curtis et  al. 2017). However, there are also moderating factors, for example, analyses over recent decades in the south of England found no evidence of a substantial worsening of heat-related mortality trends, something that analysts have attributed to successes in national scale adaptation actions and improvements in health and health systems more generally (Arbuthnott and Hajat 2017). Glacier loss, sea level rise Other systemic environmental changes acting and interacting with climate change Changes in mean climatic conditions Increased variability, including extreme weather events and heat waves Climate change Altered surface water Reduced food yields Ecosystem damage Property loss Tourism and recreation Infra- structure damage Injury, death post-event traumatic stress and disease risk Physical hazards, risk of death Microbial ecology (host animals, vectors, pathogen multipli- cation) Food prices and availability Fresh water availability Hygiene, home- grown food Nutrition, child development (and life- course adult health) Community and family morale, mental health problems Infectious- disease risks Indirect health impacts Shortages, price changes Loss of jobs, livelihoods Primary environmental and social impacts Direct health impacts Depression after event Relocation of people Conflicts, displacement Fig. 2.5 Pathways through which climate change can influence human health and well-being, including though ecosystem-related effects. (McMichael 2013 in European Environment Agency 2017) S. J. Lindley et al.