Climate change is not just jeopardizing the health of our planet, but it is increasingly impacting our immune health. There is an expanding body of evidence that climate-related exposures, such as air pollution, heat, wildfires, extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss significantly disrupt the functioning of the human immune system. These exposures manifest in a broad range of stimuli including antigens, allergens, heat stress, pollutants, microbiota changes, and other toxic substances. Such exposures pose a direct and indirect threat to our body's primary line of defense, the epithelial barrier, affecting its physical integrity and functional efficacy. Furthermore, these climate-related environmental stressors can hyper-stimulate the innate immune system and influence adaptive immunity, notably in terms of developing and preserving immune tolerance. The loss or failure of immune tolerance can instigate a wide spectrum of non-communicable diseases such as autoimmune conditions, allergy, respiratory illnesses, metabolic diseases, obesity, and others. As the evidence continues to unravel, there is a need for additional research in climate change and immunology that covers diverse environments in different global settings, employing modern biological and epidemiological tools.
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