A Portland, Ore., resident wears a respirator to protect himself from wildfire smoke as he jogs in downtown in September 2020.

Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

By Rebecca Hersher • December 2, 2020

Climate change is making people sick and leading to premature death, according to a pair of influential reports on the connections between global warming and health.

Scientists from the World Meteorological Organization released a preliminary report on the global climate which shows that the last decade was the warmest on record and that millions of people were affected by wildfires, floods and extreme heat this year on top of the global pandemic.

Separately, a sprawling analysis published Wednesday by the medical research journal The Lancet focuses on public health data from 2019, and finds that heat waves, air pollution and extreme weather increasingly damage human health. It is the most comprehensive annual report yet on the nexus of climate and health, and is routinely cited by climate policymakers. The authors include dozens of physicians and public health experts from around the world

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