A recent report by The Lancet, “Countdown on Health and Climate Change,” found that 10 out of 15 indicators tracking environmental health hazards, exposures, and impacts have hit record levels, according to Earth.org.

These changes disproportionately impact the 745 million people who have contributed the least to rising global temperatures.

What’s happening?

According to the 2024 report, these findings are “the most concerning” in eight years of monitoring. While high-income countries have contributed the most to rising levels of carbon dioxide pollution since the Industrial Revolution, low-income countries face the greatest impacts.

As researcher Hannah Ritchie said in the Earth.org article, “This is the harsh inequality of climate change.”

Many low-income countries are in climate-sensitive regions, including coastal and tropical areas. These locations are more prone to the impacts of rising sea levels, frequent and intense cyclones, floods, and droughts.