Research topics of original research articles studying the association between climate change and health, 2012-21
| Research topics | No. of articles (% of sample)* | Compound annual growth (%)† | Articles with global south focus (%)‡ |
| Total | 1014 (100.0) | 26 | 444 (43.8) |
| Climate change exposures§: | |||
| General exposure | 135 (13.3) | 12 | 52 (38.5) |
| Air pollution | 154 (15.2) | 24 | 67 (43.5) |
| Extreme weather | 306 (30.2) | 28 | 119 (38.9) |
| Food and water quality and security | 148 (14.6) | 20 | 82 (55.4) |
| Human conflict and displacement | 25 (2.5) | 8 | 13 (52.0) |
| Indoor environment | 32 (3.2) | 18 | 9 (28.1) |
| Seasonality, temperature, and meteorological factors | 697 (68.7) | 30 | 318 (45.6) |
| Other | 61 (6.0) | — | 23 (37.7) |
| Health effects: | |||
| Cancer | 7 (0.7) | — | 5 (71.4) |
| Cardiovascular | 70 (6.9) | 25 | 34 (48.6) |
| Dermatological | 11 (1.1) | — | 4 (36.4) |
| Developmental | 12 (1.2) | — | 6 (50.0) |
| Diabetes, obesity/overweight | 6 (0.6) | — | 1 (16.7) |
| Economic | 82 (8.1) | 28 | 41 (50.0) |
| General health | 244 (24.1) | 19 | 107 (43.9) |
| Infectious disease | 288 (28.4) | 23 | 166 (57.6) |
| Injury | 16 (1.6) | — | 4 (25.0) |
| Malnutrition | 20 (2.0) | — | 17 (85.0) |
| Medical visit | 54 (5.3) | 34 | 21 (38.9) |
| Mental health and wellbeing | 53 (5.2) | 22 | 15 (28.3) |
| Morbidity and mortality | 171 (16.9) | 21 | 55 (32.2) |
| Neurological | 20 (2.0) | — | 8 (40.0) |
| Reproductive | 20 (2.0) | — | 7 (35.0) |
| Respiratory | 86 (8.5) | 31 | 40 (46.5) |
| Temperature related health | 169 (16.7) | 33 | 42 (24.9) |
| Urologic | 17 (1.7) | — | 2 (11.8) |
| Other health | 47 (4.6) | 7 | 15 (31.9) |
| Geographical area: | |||
| Unspecified | 29 (2.9) | 17 | — |
| Global | 57 (5.6) | 16 | 2 (3.5) |
| North America | 192 (18.9) | 28 | 7 (3.6) |
| South America | 42 (4.1) | 28 | 39 (92.9) |
| Europe | 203 (20) | 20 | 2 (1.0) |
| Asia | 358 (35.3) | 62 | 302 (84.4) |
| Africa | 101 (10.0) | 30 | 95 (94.1) |
| Oceania | 66 (6.5) | 5 | 5 (7.6) |
| Region: | |||
| Global south¶ | 444 (43.8) | 41 | NA |
| Global north | 475 (46.8) | 22 | NA |
| Both global north and global south | 65 (6.4) | 17 | NA |
| Population focus: | |||
| Older people | 195 (19.2) | 25 | 78 (40.0) |
| Adults | 175 (17.3) | 32 | 94 (53.7) |
| Children | 303 (29.9) | 25 | 128 (42.2) |
| Not specified | 617 (60.8) | 24 | 273 (44.2) |
NA=not available. Research topics were not mutually exclusive because articles could be assigned to multiple subgroups.
*Sample is 10% of total number of articles.
†Annual increase not calculated if total less than or equal to 20.
‡Denominator was number of articles in the sample.
§Climate change exposures: extreme weather related event or disaster (ie, extreme precipitation events, tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, wildfires, heat waves, and cold waves); food and water quality and security; human conflict and displacement; indoor environment; air pollution; seasonality, temperature, and meteorological factors; general exposures; other (including ecosystem change, solar radiation, sea level rise, and sea surface oscillation).
¶According to the United Nations’ Finance Center for South-South Cooperation.