E05 Planetary health | How does extreme weather affect our health? | The Sunita Narain Show

We do not understand the health impact
of this heat that we saw. Unless we understand
the relationships of the changing climate to our own bodies, to our health,
we will not also understand the need to make the change in our world
so that we can combat emissions.

We've moved from the time
when we had no water to a time when we have too much water,
and we now have floods across our cities, across our country. There are two major changes
that we are beginning to see. More and more are mosquito related
diseases like malari, dengue and even cholera.

The disease that we thought
was a disease that we had eradicated is back again
with a vengeance. Cholera! A bacterial disease which is just because of dirty water and dirty environment. Between January 2023 and March 2020, the world has reported almost 0.65 million cases of cholera.

It is not climate change that
that is bringing malaria to our midst. It is not climate change
that is bringing cholera. The fact is, it is the mismanagement
of the environment.

Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.