Research undertaken by the University of Texas linking climate change with adverse public health effects has found that as the planet continues to warm there is likely to be an increase in the incidence of kidney stones, a medical condition brought on by dehydration. The study, published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States forecasts that by 2050 because of increased temperatures kidney stones will affect up to 2.25 million more Americans per year.

Tom Brikowski, a hydrologist at the University of Texas, Dallas and the study’s lead researcher, said "We’re certain that climate change will continue and increase, and we’re equally certain that increased temperatures will lead to increased kidney stone formation."

Although climate change will have many other detrimental health effects, Tom Brikowski believes he and his colleagues have identified a direct relationship between human health and temperature.

Kidney stones are crystallized chemicals, usually calcium, phosphates and oxalates that form in the urinary tract because of dehydration and low urine volume. They can be excruciating to expel from the body.

In a high-risk zone in the Southern US known as the “kidney stone belt” rates are double those of the national average. Giving current warming trends Brikowski and colleagues predict that this zone is likely to spread, with Texas, Florida, the Eastern seaboard and California likely to experience the highest increases. Consequently, by 2050 56% of Americans could be living in regions encompassed by the kidney stone belt, compared with 40% in 2000.

According to the research the cost of treating patients with kidney stones could dramatically escalate, adding and extra $1.3 billion a year.

Reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs), will be key to slowing global warming and reducing the health impacts of climate change. In the immediate however, drinking plenty of fluids can help the body better dilute minerals and prevent the formation of kidney stones.