Systematic Mapping of Global Research on Climate and Health Using Machine Learning
Systematic Mapping of Global Research on Climate and Health Using Machine Learning
L. Berrang‐Ford,Anne J. Sietsma,5 Authors,A. Dangour
TLDR
It is argued that in the post-2015 Paris Agreement era of climate solutions much more attention should be given to climate adaptation and mitigation options and their effects on human health.
Abstract
Background: The global literature on the links between climate change and human health is large, increasing exponentially, and no longer feasible to collate and synthesize using traditional systematic review approaches.
Methods: We use machine learning and other data science methods to systematically identify and map the scientific literature on climate change and health published since 2013. We classify >16,000 relevant publications by field of climate research, climate drivers, health impact, date and geography.
Findings: We show that climate-health literature is dominated by impact studies, with mitigation and adaptation responses and their co-benefits and co-risks remaining niche topics. Air quality and heat stress are the most frequently studied exposures, with all-cause mortality and infectious disease incidence being the most frequently studied health outcomes. Seasonality, extreme weather events, heat, and weather variability are the most frequently studied climate-related hazards. Geographically, the evidence base is dominated by studies from high-income countries and China, with very limited evidence from the majority of countries that suffer most from the health consequences of climate change.
Interpretation: We demonstrate the importance and feasibility of using automated machine-learning pipelines for mapping the science on climate change and human health and generating valuable inputs into global climate and health assessments. We find major gaps in evidence on climate-health research for mental health, undernutrition, and maternal-child health, and very limited evidence overall from low income regions. The scant evidence on climate change response options is concerning and will significantly hamper the design of evidence-based pathways to reduce the effects on health of climate change. We argue that in the post-2015 Paris Agreement era of climate solutions much more attention should be given to climate adaptation and mitigation options and their effects on human health.
Funding Statement: None to declare.
Declaration of Interests: Dr. Berrang-Ford reports grants from Dfid-FCDO UK (Gov't), from null, during the conduct of the study; all other authors have nothing to declare.