{
  "id": 16883716,
  "title": "Climate change must be declared 'global health emergency': Lancet study",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-must-be-declared-global-health-emergency-lancet-study-16883716",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-28T10:30:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-climate-declared-global-health-emergency.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new report from The Lancet warns that climate change should be declared a global health emergency to prompt governments to take action. Heat waves between 2016 and 2023 were responsible for three million deaths worldwide, with 68% of those fatalities directly linked to human-induced climate change. Published ahead of the COP 31 climate summit, the study, compiled by 146 researchers from 30 countries, highlights the devastating impact of rising temperatures. The researchers estimate that extreme drought affected more than half of the world's land surface last year, causing worker productivity losses of over $1 trillion annually over the past three years. Southeast Asia and Africa suffered the most economic losses, with GDP reductions of 3.9% and 3.2%, respectively, compared to 0.2% for Europe and 1.5% for the Americas. While progress has been made in integrating climate change into health systems, the study reveals a significant disparity in funding for climate-related medical research, with 84% going to wealthier nations despite the most vulnerable populations bearing the brunt of health threats.",
  "summary": "Climate change must be declared a \"global health emergency\" to shape governments' policies after heat caused three million deaths between 2016 and 2023, a report in The Lancet said Wednesday.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 7,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Climate change must be declared 'global health emergency': Lancet study",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-must-be-declared-global-health-emergency-lancet-study",
        "published": "2026-10-28T00:18:20.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "Climate change must be declared 'global health emergency': Lancet study",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-must-be-declared-global-health-emergency-lancet-study-16825533",
        "published": "2026-10-28T00:28:30.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Climate change must be declared a ‘global health emergency’, says Lancet study",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-must-be-declared-a-global-health-emergency-says-lancet",
        "published": "2026-10-28T00:34:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "NDTV",
        "title": "Climate Change Must Be Declared \"Global Health Emergency\": Report",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-must-be-declared-global-health-emergency-report",
        "published": "2026-10-28T01:11:54.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Vibes",
        "title": "Climate change linked to 68% of heat deaths since Paris Agreement - Lancet report",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-linked-to-68-of-heat-deaths-since-paris-agreement",
        "published": "2026-10-28T02:08:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euronews",
        "title": "Climate change should be declared health emergency as health risks can no longer be ignored",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/climate-change-should-be-declared-health-emergency-as-health-risks",
        "published": "2026-10-28T04:05:57.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}