Climate crisis, structural inequality, and biological ageing: A model of somatic internalisation of externalities

Abstract

Climate change constitutes a structural phenomenon whose effects transcend the environmental dimension and become inscribed in human biology in a differential manner according to socioeconomic position. This article develops a theoretical model that articulates the political economy of inequality, differential environmental exposure, chronic psychosocial stress, and molecular mechanisms of ageing. It is argued that structural inequality is not merely an amplifier of the climate crisis, but a condition that enables the persistence of environmental externalities by fragmenting society into groups with adaptive capacity and groups compelled to internalise costs. Evidence on telomere shortening and epigenetic modifications associated with pollution and chronic stress suggests that these externalities become somatically embedded, producing accelerated biological ageing in vulnerable populations. The proposed model integrates four interdependent levels—macro-structural, distributive-territorial, psychosocial, and molecular—and generates testable implications regarding biological stratification, the insufficiency of mitigation policies in the absence of distributive transformation, and the regressive fiscal pressure derived from the climate crisis. Comparative evidence from Latin America and Europe is incorporated to assess the widening gap between the growing health impact and institutional response capacity.