More than 16 hospitals around the world will be totally or partially destroyed by 2100 if global warming is not stopped, nine of which are located in Portugal, according to a study released today.
XDI, a company specializing in measuring climate risks, analyzed more than 200 hospital units and revealed today that one in every 12 hospital infrastructures will be destroyed due to extreme weather events associated with climate change.
If global warming is not stopped, 16.245 buildings will be affected by the end of the century.
In Portugal, 372 hospital units were analyzed and, according to the study, by the end of the century there will be nine infrastructures affected by meteorological phenomena such as floods or extreme winds.
“Our analysis shows that without a rapid phase out of fossil fuels, global health risks will increase even further, as thousands of hospitals will be unable to provide services during crises,” warned Karl Mallon, director of Science and Technology at XDI.
Portugal appears as one of the least affected European countries, alongside Iceland (also with nine buildings destroyed), and only slightly worse than Ireland and Norway (both with five hospitals affected) or Sweden (6).
All other European countries will be more affected, especially Italy, with 137 infrastructures destroyed.
According to XDI, the areas most at risk of hospital collapse in a high emissions scenario are Southeast Asia, with one in five hospitals affected.
The most affected areas are coastal areas and areas close to rivers.
“Currently, river and surface flooding dominate the risk of damage to hospitals. By the end of the century, coastal flooding will increase rapidly (exacerbated by rising sea levels) and will become the most important hazard after river flooding by 2100,” the report noted.
Analysis of the health of hospitals around the world reveals six risks related to climate change: coastal flooding, river flooding, surface water flooding, forest fires, extreme winds and cyclonic winds.
The analysis focuses on the physical damage caused to building structures and calculates how different emissions scenarios can reduce the risk.
The release of the study coincides with the first Health Day at the COP28 climate summit, which is currently taking place in Dubai.
Once again, this is a problem that affects the poorest, as seven in ten hospitals (71%) that could be affected are located in low- or middle-income countries.
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