Environment and health risks from climate change and variability in Italy

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical Services (Agenzia per la protezione dell’ambiente e per i servizi technici, APAT) are collaborating in a project on climate change and health. This report is one of the results of that project. Climate change is already having an effect in Italy, as elsewhere. The global effects of an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are reflected in the growing number of extreme weather events, such as heat-waves and intense rainfall. These have various consequences for the health of the population, both directly in terms of mortality and morbidity, and indirectly through changes in the ecosystem. As there has been, as yet, no systematic national climate change impact assessment in Italy, this report is a preliminary evaluation of the situation, using international and national literature and with the help of expert advice. The aim is to assess the potential risks of climate change to human health in Italy, to see what adaptive and preventive measures are available and to suggest what may be additionally needed.