Climate change is a health crisis
Climate change is already harming our health, from air pollution to heatwaves. This post explores the urgent link between climate and wellbeing, and how movement can be a powerful act of resistance.
What your body and the planet are trying to tell you
“When we talk about saving the planet, we’re also talking about saving ourselves.”
We often hear about climate change in terms of polar ice caps, sea levels, and endangered species. But behind the rising temperatures is a quieter, more immediate threat, to your lungs, your heart, and your mental health. Climate change is not just an environmental crisis. It’s a health crisis. And it’s already here.
The Air We Breathe
Air pollution is the world’s largest environmental health threat. It causes around 7 million premature deaths each year... from heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, and more. And it’s largely driven by the same fossil fuels responsible for climate change.
A study in The Lancet showed that exposure to pollution, especially from traffic and coal, is shortening life expectancy more than tobacco in some regions.
Every time we choose active transport (walking, biking, even skating) we’re not just avoiding emissions. We’re choosing air our bodies were built to breathe.
🔗 Lancet Countdown: Climate and Health
Heatwaves and the Body
Heat isn’t just uncomfortable... it’s dangerous. Record-breaking temperatures are now one of the deadliest weather events globally, especially in urban areas with little green space.
It increases the risk of:
- Heart attacks
- Dehydration
- Mental health emergencies
- Preterm birth and pregnancy complications
Those most at risk? The elderly, children, people with chronic illness, and outdoor workers. Yet many cities are still failing to adapt public infrastructure to protect them.
Climate adaptation isn’t just about sea walls, it’s about shaded bus stops, cool public parks, and systems that care for the vulnerable.
🔗 New York Times: Extreme Heat and Health
The Climate-Mental Health Link
According to a 2021 study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, more than 50% of young people report feeling anxious, powerless, or even hopeless about the future due to climate change.
This psychological toll, sometimes called “climate anxiety,” isn’t irrational, it’s a rational response to real threats. But here’s what the research also says: action helps.
Moving your body. Being in nature. Taking part in collective solutions.
These aren’t just good for your mood, they’re protective. They’re medicine.
🔗 The Lancet: Climate Anxiety in Youth
What You Can Do... Right Now
You don’t need to be an activist. You don’t need to run a marathon.
But movement matters... for your own health and for the health of the planet.
With uBurn, your activity directly funds environmental organisations. You’re not just burning calories, you’re burning for impact.
✅ Walk to work instead of driving
✅ Choose a bike over Uber
✅ Go for a run and log it in uBurn
✅ Move through anxiety, not away from it
Each step is a small vote for a future where our bodies and our planet thrive — together.
Final Thought
We cannot solve a health crisis by treating only the symptoms. Climate change is not just out there... it’s inside our homes, our communities, and our bodies.
Let’s move through it. Let’s move for good.
Get the app
uBurn is an iPhone, Android and web app that converts all the calories you burn into fundraising for the climate and environmental organisations of your choice.
