ECDC: on Air - Episode 76 - A. Kaźmierczak & C. Gossner - Not just a hotter summer

Climate change is already affecting our health, often in ways we don't realise. Beyond hotter summers and more frequent heatwaves, it is creating conditions that allow some infectious diseases to spread, extending allergy seasons and increasing health risks linked to extreme weather.

In this episode of ECDC: On Air, Dr Celine Gossner, ECDC expert in food, water, vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, and Aleksandra Kaźmierczak, Expert in Climate Change and Human Health at the European Environment Agency (EEA), discuss how a changing climate is reshaping health across Europe.

From the spread of mosquitoes and ticks into new regions to the growing risks of food- and water-borne diseases, they explain how climate change is affecting infectious disease risks.

They also explore the wider health impacts of rising temperatures, floods, wildfires, air pollution and changing pollen seasons, and why these changes are already affecting communities today, not just future generations.

The conversation also looks at how Europe is preparing for climate-sensitive health threats through climate adaptation, surveillance, early warning systems and cross-sector collaboration, while highlighting practical steps individuals can take to protect themselves.