How long will it be before people start dying from climate change?

Thank you for this very hard and important question. I realise that lots of children and adults currently feel worried or anxious about climate change and are concerned about how it will affect their future. If you feel like this, it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you. Actually, it means that you are a good, moral person who is interested in the world around you and someone who cares about your planet, your family and your friends. 

There are lots of people who feel the same as you all around the world, and many people are working together to do the best they can to take action on climate change. Through the Curious Climate project, you might also meet some cool adults and scientists who can support your school if you or your friends would like to get involved in protecting the environment or climate action.  

I don’t believe there will be a moment any time in the near future when large groups of people suddenly start dying of climate change. Climate change will affect different parts of the world in different ways, and at different times. In some places, weather events such as fires and floods, and hotter summers and colder winters will become more frequent, and this does put people at risk of injury and disease. For example, if you live in a fire prone area where your grandparents were evacuated once or twice in their lives, a family living in the same area today might experience evacuations more frequently. Similarly, heatwaves are dangerous for certain people in the community such as old people. If we have a very hot day and people who are sick or old don’t drink enough water or can’t keep their house cool, they are more at risk of having to go to hospital or dying. This already happens to some people every year in hot parts of the world.  The health risks of living in hot weather will become more serious for vulnerable people if we have more very hot days within a year.  

If a community does experience an event that is likely to be connected to climate change (e.g a bushfire) there are lots of things communities can do to heal themselves and recover. After the 2013 bushfire in Dunalley, the community came together quickly to rebuild the school so that the kids could be with their teachers and friends. In Australia, we have lots of good resources and lessons from past disasters to help us live through hard and difficult times. Together as a community we can learn how to adapt to living with the health threats of climate change. Even when serious disasters happen and some people are hurt or killed, we know that over time people in the community can heal and go on to live full and joyful lives.