Temperature-related neonatal deaths attributable to climate change in 29 low- and middle-income countries
Nature Communications volume 15, Article number: 5504 (2024 ) Cite this article
Exposure to high and low ambient temperatures increases the risk of neonatal mortality, but the contribution of climate change to temperature-related neonatal deaths is unknown. We use Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data (n = 40,073) from 29 low- and middle-income countries to estimate the temperature-related burden of neonatal deaths between 2001 and 2019 that is attributable to climate change. We find that across all countries, 4.3% of neonatal deaths were associated with non-optimal temperatures. Climate change was responsible for 32% (range: 19-79%) of heat-related neonatal deaths, while reducing the respective cold-related burden by 30% (range: 10-63%). Climate change has impacted temperature-related neonatal deaths in all study countries, with most pronounced climate-induced losses from increased heat and gains from decreased cold observed in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Future increases in global mean temperatures are expected to exacerbate the heat-related burden, which calls for ambitious mitigation and adaptation measures to safeguard the health of newborns.
The steep increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from human activity since the start of the fossil age has led to increasingly apparent changes in the climate. The last decade has been the warmest on record, with global mean temperatures reaching 0.95 °C–1.2 °C above pre-industrial levels1. Exposure to high ambient temperatures poses a direct and immediate threat to human health, particularly for populations with low physiological and socio-economic adaptive capacities2,3.
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