Global warming is predicted to have a large effect on temperatures and weather patterns.  It will therefore also greatly impact human health though a number of direct and indirect measures.

One impact that global warming is predicted to have is a significant increase of heat waves in both number and severity.  This will result in a greater amount of heat stress, especially in cities, leading to a large number of deaths.  This will pose the biggest problems for the young and the old.  It will also present obstacles for the poor, who face greater heat exposure due to inadequate living conditions and a lack of air-conditioning. Although global warming will lead to fewer cold-related deaths due to an overall increase in average temperature, this decline will be more than balanced out by increase at the other end of the climate spectrum.

Global warming is predicted to lead to extreme weather in general.  This will produce an onset of events such as hurricanes and other violent storms, leading to loss of additional lives.  Another consequence might be rising sea levels, which could be devastating to coastal areas.  A rise of at least half a meter is expected to occur within the next century. This increase could result in the inundation of a great deal of land.  It could also cause a greater chance of major flooding, tripling the present risk.  This, in turn, would increase coastal erosion, increasing environmental harm.

Climate changes could also affect air pollution by altering the rate of chemical reactions in the atmosphere or by altering wind and rain patterns that influence the accumulation of pollutants.  Temperatures themselves can effect air pollution; as seen in cases like ground level ozone, a large amount of smog forms under high temperatures.  Hot weather also adds to the evaporation of such substances as gasoline and organic solvents, a development that can add to air pollution. Changes in weather patterns could also greatly harm agriculture and damage to freshwater supplies.

The EPA on the health effects of global warming