Climate crisis recognized as a deadly risk for people with respiratory diseases

Experts warn that the climate crisis poses the greatest risk for people with respiratory illnesses. Experts are calling for compliance with the WHO regulatory limits on air pollution, as the impact of the climate emergency is interconnected with human health.

The climate crisis may pose the greatest risk for people with respiratory illnesses, experts say, as high temperatures and changing weather conditions exacerbate lung health problems.

Respiratory disease experts have urged the EU to lower its regulatory limits on air pollution in line with the World Health Organization (WHO), The Guardian writes. In an editorial in the European Respiratory Journal, they wrote: “We must do everything in our power to help alleviate the suffering of patients.”

The experts added that the effects of the climate emergency and human health have become intertwined and are now “irreversible”. Increases in pollen and other allergens, as well as wildfires, dust storms and fossil fuel-based traffic, all worsen existing respiratory illnesses or may create new ones, write the authors in a peer-reviewed article.

Air pollution is estimated to have killed 6.7 million people worldwide in 2019 and 373,000 in Europe, with greenhouse gases and air pollution largely coming from the same sources.

“Climate change affects everyone’s health, but patients with respiratory diseases may be among the most vulnerable,” says Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, professor of environmental epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen and author of the report. “These are people who are already experiencing breathing difficulties, and they are much more sensitive to our changing climate. Their symptoms will get worse and for some it will be fatal.”

Children are more affected by the climate crisis and air pollution because their lungs are still developing, they breathe faster and take in two to three times more air than adults when they spend more time outdoors.

According to the authors, early exposure to air pollution may make people more likely to develop chronic lung disease later in life, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or bronchitis due to smoking.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing the planet from warming further would result in “significantly larger and more immediate benefits,” the study authors write, as human health would improve rapidly as the air became cleaner.

Jovanovich Andersen added: “We all need to breathe clean, safe air. This means we need policy action to mitigate the effects of climate change on our planet and our health. As respiratory physicians and nurses, we must be aware of these new risks and do everything in our power to help alleviate the suffering of patients.”

Recent WHO reports say that reducing emissions will improve air quality, so air pollution control should be at the “center” of any climate strategy, the authors write.

On behalf of the European Respiratory Society, which represents more than 30,000 lung specialists from 160 countries, the authors want the EU to align its air quality standards with WHO.

EU limits are 25 micrograms per cubic meter for fine particles (PM2.5) and 40 micrograms per cubic meter for nitrogen dioxide, compared to five micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter for nitrogen dioxide.

The UK government has set a target of 10 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5 by 2040, arguing that this is not possible under WHO guidance due to cross-Channel and shipping emissions.

“As recent extreme weather events have shown, we need to prepare our communities for a much more challenging future by adapting to the ever-increasing impact of climate-related respiratory diseases,” Jovanovich Andersen wrote.