Specific attention has been directed towards the situation of the aged, the disabled and the chronically-ill. In the context of a rapidly ageing world population where within 30 years the numbers of people aged over 65 years will increase almost three- fold. There seems little doubt that ageing will substantially heighten potential vulnerability to climate change. In particular, the increase in the numbers of very old people, in chronic disease and disability rates as well as in medication dependence will all substantially alter the geography of risk in many countries. It was clear from this work that the vulnerability of the aged in a changing climate has yet to be fully appreciated by social and health planners.
Climate change is predicted to have many impacts.
It is recognised that there will be impacts on human health and well-being, though this area has received less attention from researchers than many other aspects of climate change. In the major documents examining the potential impacts of climate change published to date, human health has received little attention, possibly because of the comparatively small amount of research that has been conducted on the topic. Indeed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II Impacts Assessment Report, published in 1990, contained fewer than four pages discussing the potential impacts of climate change on human health. None the less, a number of potential human health and disease impacts have been identified. Such potential human health and well-being impacts of climate change are often categorised into those impacts which will be a direct result of climate change and those which will occur as an indirect result of climate change.