In China, health officials have reported a rare outbreak of pneumonic plague after two cases were confirmed this week in Beijing.The two were infected in the province of Inner Mongolia, where rodent populations have expanded dramatically after persistent droughts, worsened by climate change, state media said.The wider implications for health are sobering.
The Lancet medical journal published a study this week saying climate change was already harming people's health by increasing the number of extreme weather events and exacerbating air pollution.If nothing is done, the impacts could burden an entire generation with disease and illness throughout their lives, researchers said.
"Children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of a changing climate. Their bodies and immune systems are still developing, leaving them more susceptible to disease and environmental pollutants," said Nick Watts, one of those who led the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change study.
Health damage in early childhood is"persistent and pervasive," he warned, bringing lifelong consequences. "Without immediate action from all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, gains in wellbeing and life expectancy will be compromised, and climate change will come to define the health of an entire generation," he told a London briefing.