Study Reveals Effects of Climate Change on Health

New research from Kenya highlights how climate change is increasingly compromising the health of vulnerable communities, with wide-ranging impacts on both physical and mental wellbeing. A large-scale survey conducted in Nairobi’s informal settlements found that extreme weather events—such as floods, heatwaves, and erratic rainfall—are significantly linked to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts among women.
Another recent qualitative study in agrarian communities documented how climate change affects basic social determinants of health. Droughts and flooding are disrupting food production, reducing diet diversity, and driving undernutrition. Economic instability caused by crop failures is forcing some families to adopt risky survival strategies, such as transactional sex, which raises broader health risks.
In pastoral regions of North Eastern Kenya, climate change is undermining traditional livelihoods, leading to prolonged droughts that threaten both human and livestock health. These communities face increased food insecurity, water scarcity, and heat stress, which together worsen malnutrition and reduce access to health services.
Experts are also flagging a worrying rise in climate-driven infectious disease risk. A study carried out in northern Kenya found that rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are creating favorable conditions for malaria transmission in areas previously considered low risk. Meanwhile, in urban informal settlements, residents already perceive a growing health burden from respiratory illnesses, vector-borne diseases, and cardiovascular conditions linked to climate change.