Climate Change and Health in Singapore. What Rising Temperatures, Rainfall and Air Quality Mean for Our Wellbeing.
- Alastair Hunt
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
Climate change is usually discussed in terms of rising temperatures and extreme weather, but its effects are increasingly felt through human health too. A systematic review in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific examined how climate variability and air quality changes are linked to health outcomes in Singapore, covering everything from respiratory illness and cardiovascular events to dengue and foodborne infection.
Singapore is a useful case study: a tropical, highly urbanised city-state that already deals with heat, heavy rainfall and humidity year-round. The review found that climate and air quality affect different conditions in different ways, shaped by complex interactions between humans, pathogens, animals and environment.
As ever, talk to your doctor before making any changes to diet, exercise or lifestyle, especially if you're under treatment. Links to all studies are at the bottom of the page.
Why climate change matters for health
Rising greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming, which affects health through several pathways: heat stress, shifting infectious disease patterns, food safety risks from changing rainfall, and poor air quality from transport, industry and regional haze.
Between 1980 and 2020, Singapore's annual mean temperature rose from 26.9°C to 28.0°C, and rainfall increased by an average of 67mm per decade. Over the past two decades, rising temperature and humidity have tracked with increases in dengue, salmonellosis, diarrhoeal disease and heat-related illness. The researchers set out to map the existing evidence and flag where more research is needed.
What they found
The review analysed 14 studies (2000–2023) covering respiratory infections (flu, RSV), cardiovascular events (stroke, NSTEMI), heat-related illness, dengue, foodborne/GI illness, and air pollution's effect on emergency admissions. Climate factors didn't affect every disease the same way, different illnesses responded differently to temperature, humidity, rainfall and pollution.
Heat, humidity and infection
Higher absolute humidity was linked to increased dengue, RSV and influenza B risk, one study found humidity raised dengue risk by roughly 21%, likely by affecting virus survival, mosquito breeding and outdoor behaviour. Rainfall was linked to higher rates of melioidosis, influenza A and parainfluenza, though not consistently, hand, foot and mouth disease followed a different pattern, underscoring how varied these relationships are.
More heat doesn't always mean more disease
Surprisingly, extreme heat didn't consistently raise disease risk. Very high temperatures and heatwaves were linked to lower dengue rates, likely because extreme heat reduces mosquito survival even as it boosts their activity at moderate temperatures. This is a good reminder that climate-health effects are local and condition-specific, not universal.
Heat-related illness itself did rise with temperature: Singapore recorded 71 to 124 hospital admissions annually for heat-related illness between 2010 and 2020 (likely an undercount). Older adults, outdoor workers, people with certain medical conditions, and those with limited access to cooling are most vulnerable.
Air pollution
Pollutants from vehicles, industry and regional haze were linked to poorer outcomes: higher nitrogen dioxide with more influenza B, ozone with stroke risk, and particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10) with acute conjunctivitis and hospital admissions during haze episodes. Some findings were inconsistent, certain pollutants showed unexpected links with childhood RSV, possibly because families spend more time indoors (and less time exposed to circulating viruses) during poor air quality events.
Protecting health in a warmer future
Singapore already runs adaptation efforts: urban greenery, better building design, heat monitoring, emissions reduction. But cooling access isn't equal, so community-level measures matter too:
Watch heat risk: heed advisories, avoid intense outdoor exercise in peak heat, take breaks, hydrate.
Cool indoor spaces sustainably: better ventilation, shading, less indoor heat load, more greenery.
Limit exposure during haze: reduce outdoor time and follow air quality guidance, especially if you have existing conditions.
Support broader resilience: cut energy waste, choose sustainable transport, back greener community spaces.
Why more research is needed
Most existing studies only capture short-term associations; long-term effects on Singapore's population remain poorly understood. Open questions include how repeated heat exposure affects chronic disease risk, how heat and pollution interact, and which adaptation strategies work best.
Climate is only one factor among many: lifestyle, healthcare access and socioeconomic conditions all shape health outcomes, so policy needs to address the whole picture, not climate risk alone.
Final thoughts
Climate change isn't just an environmental issue, it's a public health one. This review shows that in Singapore, shifts in temperature, humidity, rainfall and air quality influence a wide range of conditions, though rarely in a straightforward way.
Staying informed, keeping healthy habits, and supporting urban resilience measures all help protect health as the climate keeps shifting.
Stay cool,
Alastair
Key Studies and Resources
Aik J, Ang L, Gunther SH, Tang C, Lee JKW, Seow WJ. Climate change and population health in Singapore: a systematic review. Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2023 Nov 15;40:100947. doi: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100947. PMID: 38116501; PMCID: PMC10730317.
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