The effects of climate change on health in the Philippines are significant, heightening risks of vector and water-borne diseases and illnesses, mental distress and illness, and food and water insecurity while also aggravating existing health inequalities for the population of over 110 million people. The Philippines is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, ranking first on the World Risk Index's assessment of countries' natural disaster risk and internal vulnerabilities for the third year in a row in 2024. Multiple climate-related hazards threaten at least 60 percent of the country's land mass, where 74 percent of the population lives.
People living within coastal areas and people living in dense cities due to rapid urbanization are at high risk of flooding related to sea level rise and extreme heat. Lower income city dwellers and displaced peoples are also exposed to greater harms from climate hazards and disasters because they live in informal settlements that have little protection and infrastructure and do not have the resources to cope. Climate change exploits social vulnerabilities and worsens health outcomes for certain groups such as children and the elderly who are more at risk of infectious disease because of their lower immune systems and mobility limitations. People with lower incomes are also further disadvantaged due to limited job opportunities caused by climate change and climate-related natural disasters.
Shifts in temperature, rainfall patterns, and humidity in the Philippines influence infectious organisms linked to the spread of disease. Mosquito populations have increased substantially, leading to an uptick in diseases such as dengue and malaria that are highly sensitive to weather changes. Floods harm sanitation and contaminate water, providing for the incubation and greater spread of disease and also contributing to a lack of available drinking water. Detrimental effects of climate change to crop growth and higher food prices with less production have contributed to food insecurity and malnutrition, which has significantly harmed child development.
Climate change in the Philippines For more information, see Climate change in the Philippines.
The geography of the Philippines partially contributes to its high exposure to natural disasters and the effects of its changing climate. It is located by the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most seismically active part of the world, and at the junction of two tectonic plates, exposing it to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Being in the Northwestern Pacific Basin, the most active tropical cyclone basin in the world, the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to typhoons, which are only intensifying with climate change. And as an archipelago with 7,107 islands, its coastal areas are at high risk to storm surges, sea level rise, and tsunamis.
Major climate patterns within the Philippines include temperature and rainfall changes as well as rising sea levels and coastal erosion. Maximum and minimum temperatures are increasing in the Philippines and hot extremes are intensifying. The average annual temperature has risen by 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade from 1961 to 2015. Due to the warmer atmosphere, instances of extreme rainfall, characterized by greater intensity and frequency of rain, are increasing, leading to greater risks of flooding and soil erosion. Variations in rainfall patterns due to climate change have also profoundly impacted the Philippines. Additionally, global warming has contributed to significant rates in sea level rise in the Philippines, where the sea is rising three to four times faster than the global average sea level of 3.3mm/year. Higher sea levels have led to increased coastal erosion, having major impacts on the population, as over 60 percent of people live within coastal areas, and impacts on agriculture, as some food is grown on land close to sea level.
Food insecurity Changes to the climates, such as typhoons, flooding, and drought, have reduced overall crop productivity in the Philippines, leaving many people food insecure. Malnutrition from shortages in food also increases the occurrence and spread of communicable diseases. While the population continues to grow, food production has declined as much as 25 percent. Temperature changes and differences in onset and recession of the rainy reason are disrupting crop growth, especially for staple crops such as rice that are sensitive to water and heat stress. Although greater carbon fertilization with hotter temperatures can increase the yield of major grains like rice and corn, if higher temperatures are met before certain growth stages, effects on growth are deleterious. For example, every 1 degree Celsius increase in night time temperature resulted in a 10 percent decrease in crop yield. Higher temperatures also encourage weeds and pests that decrease crop production.
Climate change also poses a threat to many communities within the Philippines that rely on small-scale fisheries for their food as well as for their livelihoods. Ocean acidification and coral bleaching from climate impacts have harmed coral reefs and in turn the fish that live in their ecosystems. Both coastal and inland fisheries are affected by droughts that disrupt their fishing schedules and floods that cause the sedimentation of ponds and destroy of their fishing equipment. People in the Philippines get about 43% of their animal protein from fish and fish products.
Along with production losses, climate change and natural disasters also exacerbate income and health disparities related to food. Price inflation with limited production make food inaccessible and unaffordable to families with less income in both rural and urban areas. Two-thirds of low income people in the Philippines rely on agriculture to make a living, and their ability to provide for themselves and their families are increasingly at risk. In coastal areas most vulnerable to climate change, increased threats to families' livelihoods contributed to greater food insecurity and child malnutrition outcomes. In a survey across 17 regions, child development due to malnutrition occurred at high rates of stunting, at 33 percent, and wasting, at 6 percent.
Water Water security is a basic need for people to live a healthy and active lifestyle, and water is recognized as a basic human right by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Having access to potable water is essential for human health, and people can only survive without water for 3 or 4 days. The water supply in the Philippines is threatened by climate change, as changes in rainfall patterns with heavy rainfall or drought make water harder to secure and flooding contaminates what would be safe drinking water. Changing weather patterns have led to trends of decreased inflow into major water reservoirs such as Lake Lanao, Pantabangan, Ambuklao, and Magat. Droughts and the reduction of water into these reservoirs have serious impacts on the people who rely on them as a main source of water, for example Manila and its surrounding area rely on the Angat Watershed for the majority of its water supply. Urban areas in the Philippines are more likely to experience water shortages because of the high demand of their large populations with dwindling water supply. On the other hand, coastal areas more prone to flooding deal with damage to water infrastructure and the spread of pollutants into water. Along with flooding, rising sea levels lead to saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies, making water undrinkable. By 2040, between 40 and 80 percent of the Philippine's total water supply is estimated to be depleted, with water scarcity posing a serious threat to population health.
Changes in rainfall and increasing temperatures also lead to issues with irrigation water supply for crop production. Diversion water requirements to meet crop needs can increase up to a half due to climate change. An increased requirement for water coupled with an inadequate supply of water to support crop growth contributes to greater food insecurity in the Philippines.
Climate-sensitive diseases and illnesses Virulent infections in the Philippines are highly sensitive to climate change, as factors such as temperature, rainfall, and humidity promote longer life cycles of vectors and other infectious agents. Risk of food and water-borne disease also increases with flooding that disrupts water management and causes sanitation issues. Rising temperatures are also putting individuals at risk of heat stroke and other heat-related illness.
Water-borne diseases and sanitation issues Water-borne diseases are transmitted through water and foods such as seafood, fruits, and vegetables. Increasing temperatures and changes to rainfall patterns leading to water contamination affect the incubation and spread of viruses and bacteria in water. Cholera cases rise notably with changes to weather, increasing by 26 per 1,000 cases for every unit of monthly rainfall, by 662 per 1,000 cases for every unit of increased humidity, and by nearly 8 per 1,000 cases for every unit of maximum temperature. Greater rainfall also increases vulnerability to diarrhea. Diarrhea is commonly transmitted through the fecal-oral route due to contact with contaminated food, water, and environment. Water pollution from flooding exacerbates disease by disrupting sanitation. Inadequate sewage management and unsanitary conditions lead to the transmission of infectious disease as people indirectly consume human feces through contaminated food or water. Rural and urban areas lacking clean or adequate amounts of water are at greater risk of diarrhea and cholera. Following natural disasters, in overcrowded evacuation areas, sanitary lavatories and clean water are often in short supply, making it more likely for people to develop diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and skin problems. In 2015, following the country's progress toward its Sustainable Development Goal, about 26% of the population in the Philippines still did not have access to improved sanitation facilities and 8% had no access to improved water sources. The government water supply and sanitation program estimated that diseases related to poor sanitation, water quality, and hygiene caused about 15,000 deaths per year in the Philippines.
Vector-borne diseases
Vector-borne disease outbreaks have worsened as an effect of climate change. One of the most common vector-borne diseases in the Philippines is dengue fever, a disease transmitted by Aedes aegyti and Ae. albopictus female mosquitoes. Both dengue and malaria case incidents have a positive association with temperature increases. Hotter temperatures promotes the reproductive and biting rates of mosquitos as well as the incubation of dengue. Many studies have found a strong correlation between heavy rainfall and greater incidence of dengue in the Philippines as well. Stagnant water from flooding provides breeding grounds for vectors, leading to the growth of more mosquitos that transmit diseases. Following El Niño in 2015, there was a 60 percent increase in the number of dengue cases. Dengue fever continues to be endemic in the Philippines, and its transmission continues to increase. In 2022, there were 220,705 reported cases, with incidence increasing by 94% during the first quarter of 2023. The World Health Organization projects that by 2070, under both high and low emissions scenarios, dengue fever transmission in the Philippines will remain at a high transmission level and over 150 million new people will be at risk of malaria.
Heat-related illness and mortality