Climate Change, Public Health, and Environmental Resilience: An Interdisciplinary Review of Emerging Risks and Adaptation Strategies

Abstract

Public health is under growing threat from climate change, which has the potential to change environmental conditions, exacerbate extreme weather events, disrupt ecosystems, and exacerbate social inequalities. The connections between climatic hazards, emergent health risks, environmental resilience and adaptation strategies were explored using interdisciplinary synthesis of evidence produced during the period 2018-25. Scholarly studies and institutional reports found relevant to the topic were identified via major academic databases and authoritative international organisations. The results revealed that climate change was generating health threats, including increased temperatures, flooding, droughts, wildfires, air pollution, food and water insecurity, infectious diseases, mental-health pressures, and displacement; which were creating interconnected health burdens. Children, older persons, women, outdoor workers, migrants, low income groups and communities in environmentally sensitive areas were particularly impacted by these effects. Environmental resilience was identified as a key protective factor as it involves healthy ecosystems, green urban spaces, and reliable infrastructure, which contributed to the preparedness to recover from adverse conditions; and as it involves developing a social fabric that is conducive to resilience, which involves strong social networks; and as it involves ensuring that health systems are resilient to climate change, which entails their preparedness to adapt to adversity. Adaption was not just about individual solutions. The areas with the most potential for mitigation of risk included health-health action plans, early-warning systems, climate-sensitive disease surveillance, resilient healthcare facilities, nature-based solutions, participation of the community, and coordinated governance. Challenges such as lack of funding, poor institutional coherence, insufficient local information, insufficient monitoring and unequal access to adaptation resources were major hindrances. Moving forward, integrated climate health monitoring, continued investments, locally informed planning, and policies that ensure resilience for vulnerable populations and support environmental and health systems will be essential.