Climate change and human health: the critical role of anthropogenic heat in health impact assessment

Climate change is one of the most critical public health challenges of the 21st century, affecting human health through both direct and indirect pathways. While it is well known for increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters such as hurricanes, droughts, and rising sea levels, its health impacts go far beyond these immediate events. Increasing global temperatures lead to more heatwaves, change the spread of disease-carrying insects, and worsen air quality, all of which increase the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic diseases. However, many health impact assessments (HIAs) still focus on individual weather factors like ambient temperature, overlooking the combined effects of urbanization, energy consumption, and social inequalities. To address this limitation, anthropogenic heat (AH), the heat produced by human activities, has gained attention as a valuable indicator. It helps capture the complex links between climate, infrastructure, human behavior, and health outcomes.