Clinical Ophthalmology

Climate Change and Ophthalmology

Our climate is changing. The science behind this is irrefutable. We live on a planet that we are finely evolved to live on, and changes to our planet's climate therefore threaten us. There is already an increasing research base linking health issues with climate change but less work has been done on the threat to our eyes and visual system from these changes. As climate change creates an increasingly hostile environment our vision becomes increasingly important. If climate change brings more eye disease, visual impairment and blindness then we need to urgently look at ways to mitigate this and at the same time prepare for it. Healthcare systems and eyecare charities need to know the eye diseases that will be most affected by climate change and move resources into those areas. As animal and plant migration occur in response to a changing environment practitioners need to be aware that eye diseases they have never encountered may appear. It is therefore vital that research efforts and academic publications address these issues - hence this special series.