Climate change, environmental extremes, and human health

In the context of climate change, extreme environmental events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, profoundly affecting human health and creating a vicious cycle of mutual reinforcement. This review examines evolving trends in climate change–related extreme events and compound exposures, such as heatwaves, cold spells, heavy rainfall, floods, and hurricanes, and summarizes their impacts on major health outcomes, including respiratory, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, infectious, and kidney diseases, as well as mental health and adverse birth outcomes. It further outlines interventions and future directions for adaptation, planning, and resilience across six levels: individual, interpersonal, community, institutional, environmental, and public policy. Despite growing research in this area, substantial knowledge gaps remain, including the scarcity of evidence from low- and middle-income countries, methodological inconsistencies, limited investigation of compound events, and insufficient attention to morbidity and adaptation effectiveness. Future research should employ harmonized, long-term, and multi-regional approaches to more accurately quantify health burdens and enhance global resilience to climate change.