The Impacts of Climate Change on the Daily Lives of Individuals with Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Climate change affects every aspect of our lives, and people with disabilities are especially vulnerable. Despite people with disabilities being more directly and indirectly exposed to and affected by the impact of climate change than the rest, research on their unique challenges remains lacking. To date, most research has focused on the occurrence of emergencies such as natural disasters, and there is little research on the effects of climate change on daily life. This study addresses this gap by conducting a scoping review of research on how climate change affects the daily lives of people with disabilities. Relevant studies were identified from Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus, with a final selection of 17 articles for review. The results of the scoping review showed that climate change affects the physical and mental health of people with disabilities and also affects their mobility in daily life. In addition, climate change is expected to increase the frequency of migrations. Consequently, people with disabilities, many of whom are already socially marginalized, are likely to be disproportionately affected and face further disadvantages as climate change progresses.