Climate change and health: temperature and health impacts

Abstract

Climate change is anticipated to have serious adverse health effects, particularly in developing countries. Impacts will be exacerbated by poor or non-existent social, technological and financial adaptation and/or mitigation measures. In South Africa, climate sensitive health concerns include an increase in the occurrence of heat stroke, skin rashes, non-melanoma skin cancer and dehydration (DEAT, 2004), although the magnitude, and temporal and spatial variability of these effects are not yet known. Heat stress is of particular importance given anticipated global temperature increases and limited knowledge about the topic in South Africa.