Table 1 Summary of systematic reviews included in review

An et al. 2018 [34]

PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Scopus

– July 2019

(“obesity”, “obese”, “adiposity”, “overweight”, “body mass index”, “BMI”, “weight”, “waist circumference”, “waist to hip”, “waist-to-hip”, “body fat”) AND (“climate change”, “global warming”)

50

Climate change (global warming) and health (NCD focused)

• Four types of relationships identified: 1) global warming and the obesity epidemic are correlated due to common drivers; 2) global warming influences the obesity epidemic; 3) the obesity epidemic influences global warming; 4) global warming and the obesity epidemic influence each other

• A fossil fuel-based economy, population growth, and industrialization have contributed to climate change and obesity through land use and urbanization, motorized transportation, and agricultural productivity

• Climate change influences the obesity epidemic through food supply and food price and adaptive thermogenesis

• The obesity epidemic influences global warming through increased energy consumption (motorized transportation and over nutrition) and greenhouse gas emissions

Bernard et al. 2020 [40]

PsycArticles, CINAHL, SportDiscus, GreenFILE, GeoRef, Scopus, JSTOR, Transportation Research Information Services

–October 2020

(“exercise”, “sport”. “walk”, “biking”, “physical activity”) AND (“climate change”, “natural disaster”, “greenhouse”, “flood”, “extreme weather”, “drought”)

63

Climate change and movement behavior (physical activity)

• There is a bidirectional relationship between climate change and physical activity and sport practices

• Air pollution is associated with a less time spent participating in physical activity and more time spent in sedentary time

• Extreme weather conditions including heavy precipitation and heat waves lead to decreased active transportation and leisure physical activity

• Natural disaster experience is associated with lower levels of physical activity and less active travel

• Active transportation reduces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions

• Participation in sport is related to a larger carbon footprint, particularly in elite sports. This carbon footprint may be reduced through interventions such as carpooling for transportation

• Leisure physical activity and sport infrastructure and facilities may help communities’ recovery following a natural disaster

• In the future, sports organizations and facilities will have to prepare, and make accommodations for climate change

Cheng and Berry [33]

Medline, Web of Science, GEOBASE, grey literature (e.g., IPCC, WHO)

January 2000–March 2012

(“climate”, “climate change”, “adaptation”) AND (“health status”, “public policy”, “health co-benefits”, “health risk”, “public health”)

22

Climate change and health (NCD and mental health focused)

• Climate change adaptation strategies involving increased social capital have been shown to have health benefits and reduce vulnerability to negative health impacts of climate change

• Increased social capital also has potential health risks (by increasing fear and misconceptions within social networks) for facing climate change and must be further studied to improve understanding of risks and benefits

• Urban design and planning strategies, such as green spaces, walkable neighborhoods, and bike paths, can have a positive effect on both public health and climate change mitigation

• Poor urban planning (e.g., urban heat island effect) can increase health risks in the era of climate change

Franchini and Mannucci [37]

PubMed

–November 2014

“climate change”, “climate variability”, “global warming”, “meteorological factors”, “weather”, “atmosphere”, “heat waves”, “extreme weather”, “ambient air pollution”, “outdoor”, “particulate matter”, “PM”, “air pollutants”, “mortality”, “human health”, “health effects”, “infectious disease”, “diarrheal disease”, “cardiovascular disease”, “ischemic heart disease”, “cancer”, and “respiratory disease”.

77

Climate change and health (both NCD and CD focused)

• Extreme weather events caused by global warming, including heat waves, wildfires, and drought, lead to increased rates of morbidity and mortality in affected regions. For example, there is a link between higher incidence of myocardial infarction and higher temperature

• Decreased winter temperatures caused by global warming in mid-lateral regions could lead to health benefits such a decrease in mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, however, the negative health consequences of rising temperatures have been shown to far outweigh these potential positive ones

• Desertification and droughts related to climate change limit low-income countries’ abilities to maintain adequate food production and clean drinking water, leading to poorer health outcomes and increased death rates

• Diarrheal diseases will likely increase due to climate warming; droughts, massive rainfall and increasing temperatures as these reduce the availability of safe drinking water

• Increased temperatures also increased risk for cardiovascular and respiratory dysfunctions, due to increased concentrations of air pollutants and ozone

• Higher levels of carbon dioxide and higher temperatures resulting from global warming are expected to increase the prevalence of allergic diseases globally

• Through changes in temperature, rainfall patterns, and extreme climate events, global warming is expected to increase the spread of infectious and vector-borne diseases

• There is a relationship between climate change, mean temperature increase, and humidity variations, and visits to the emergency room due to atrial fibrillation, renal colic, and psychiatric issues

Levi et al. [36]

PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS

January 2000–June 2017

Focused on i) “heat-related illness”, “cardiovascular”, “respiratory and kidney diseases”, ii) “traumatic injuries”, “acute death”; iii) “vector-borne diseases” or “vectors distribution”. “climate change”, “worker*” AND AND (“health” (health OR injur* OR disease*))

165

Climate change (temperatures) and health (both NCD and CD focused)

• There is an inversed U-shaped relationship between maximum daily temperature and daily injury claims

• Increased temperatures put outdoor workers at greater risk for vector-borne infectious disease

• When daily temperature exceeds 32 degrees Celsius, daily labor productivity is reduced by up to 14% in agriculture and construction sectors

• Overall, as temperatures increase due to climate change, worker health and productivity in outdoor professions is expected to decline

Rataj et al. [35]

Medline, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CAB Direct, PILOTS; Hand search in Global Environmental Change and Climatic Change journals; Google Scholar, WHO’s Virtual Health Library

–April 2014

Direct link

17

Climate change (extreme weather events) and health (NCD and mental health focused)

• Following a natural disaster experience, there are increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, injury, depressive disorder, and anxiety disorder

• Risk factors for these health problems following natural disasters consistently included prior traumatic events, female sex, higher age, poor health status, and witnessing death or dead bodies

Rifkin et al. [39]

PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane databases

1980–2017

Direct link

16

Climate change and movement behavior (sleep)

• Increased temperatures lead to decreased time and quality of sleep

• A 1-degree Celsius deviation in monthly night-time temperatures was associated with an increase of three nights of insufficient sleep per 100 people

• Studies examining the relationship between wildfires, floods, and sleep found that people exposed to these natural disasters had disrupted sleep following the events

• Decreased sleep time and increased sleep disruption are common and appear to effect more vulnerable populations (i.e., elderly and low-income persons) more severely

Veenema et al. [38]

PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science

2006–2016

(“climate change”, “climatic processes”, “El Niño”, “global warming”, “Disasters”, “natural disasters”, “floods”, “flash floods”, “coastal floods”, “flooding”, “cyclone”, “hurricane”, “heavy rainfall/precipitation”, “sea-level rise”) AND (“health” (“population”, “public”, OR “community)))

47

Climate change (water disasters) and health (NCD, CD, and mental health focused)

• Climate change-related water disasters directly impact human health by causing drowning, electrocution, cardiovascular events, and mental health effects

• Displacement by flooding may put individuals under close quarters with potentially unsanitary living conditions which perpetuate the spread of infectious diseases

• Increases in water temperature, precipitation frequency and severity and other water disaster-caused consequences result in increased waterborne, vector-borne, and zoonotic diseases

• Climate change-related water disasters are also associated with negative psychiatric and mental health outcomes such as post-traumatic stress disorder

• Climate change-related water disasters likely disproportionately affect individuals in vulnerable positions (e.g., low income, % of minority residents, lower education, lack of English fluency, low take up of medical services, age, disability status).

• Lower income countries are more susceptible to water-related disasters with poorer post-disaster outcomes compared to higher income countries

• Disruption in food or water sources post water-related disasters can lead to chronic community malnutrition

• Water-related disasters also disrupt health infrastructure and affect the continuity of healthcare services during the recovery period, and this is hampered by a lack of health services and adequate health professionals in affected communities