Too Hot to Ignore: The Escalating Health Impact of Heatwaves in Brazil

Jessica M. Neves, Klauss K. S. Garcia, Beatriz F. A. Oliveira and Marco A. Horta ()
Additional contact information
Jessica M. Neves: Laboratory of Hantavirus and Rickettsias/BSL-3 Facility, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IOC-Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil
Klauss K. S. Garcia: Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and International Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Populational Health, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
Beatriz F. A. Oliveira: Piauí Regional Office, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Teresina 64000-128, PI, Brazil
Marco A. Horta: Laboratory of Hantavirus and Rickettsias/BSL-3 Facility, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IOC-Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: Heatwaves (HWs) are becoming more frequent and severe, posing a significant threat to human health. Studies have shown that extreme heat, whether as incremental temperature increases or prolonged HWs, is associated with an increased risk of heat-related illnesses. However, there is still limited understanding of how these impacts unfold in Brazil, given its unique social, environmental, and health-system contexts. I this perspective article, we explore the effects of HWs on human physiology, examine the social and biological factors that contribute to heat stress, and identify vulnerable populations at disproportionate risk. We also discuss the potential consequences of extreme heat in other aspects of society, such as agriculture and energy, and assess the challenges of strengthening resilience in Brazil’s health sector. Our key contribution are to make visible the hidden burden of heat-related mortality, to examine how fragmented governance constrains the adaptive capacity of Brazil’s health sector, and to reflect on pathways to strengthen resilience to heatwaves.

Keywords: Brazil; climate change; climate resilience; health impacts; heatwaves; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1451/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1451/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:9:p:1451-:d:1752715

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().