scholarly journals Toward an integrated system of climate change and human health indicators: a conceptual framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 166 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Y. Liu ◽  
Juli M. Trtanj ◽  
Erin K. Lipp ◽  
John M. Balbus
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Science And Policy

AbstractEnvironmental health indicators are helpful for tracking and communicating complex health trends, informing science and policy decisions, and evaluating public health actions. When provided on a national scale, they can help inform the general public, policymakers, and public health professionals about important trends in exposures and how well public health systems are preventing those exposures from causing adverse health outcomes. There is a growing need to understand national trends in exposures and health outcomes associated with climate change and the effectiveness of climate adaptation strategies for health. To date, most indicators for health implications of climate change have been designed as independent, individual metrics. This approach fails to take into account how exposure-outcome pathways for climate-attributable health outcomes involve multiple, interconnected components. We propose reframing climate change and health indicators as a linked system of indicators, which can be described as follows: upstream climate drivers affect environmental states, which then determine human exposures, which ultimately lead to health outcomes; these climate-related risks are modified by population vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies. We apply this new conceptual framework to three illustrative climate-sensitive health outcomes and associated exposure-outcome pathways: pollen allergies and asthma, West Nile virus infection, and vibriosis.

scholarly journals Toward an Integrated System of Climate Change and Human Health Indicators: A Conceptual Framework

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Y. Liu ◽  
Juli M. Trtanj ◽  
Erin K. Lipp ◽  
John M. Balbus
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Science And Policy

Abstract Environmental health indicators are helpful for tracking and communicating complex health trends, informing science and policy decisions, and evaluating public health actions. When provided on a national scale, they can help inform the general public, policy makers, and public health professionals about important trends in exposures and how well public health systems are preventing those exposures from causing adverse health outcomes. There is a growing need to understand national trends in exposures and health outcomes associated with climate change and the effectiveness of climate adaptation strategies for health. To date, most indicators for health implications of climate change have been designed as independent, individual metrics. This approach fails to take into account how exposure-outcome pathways for climate-attributable health outcomes involve multiple, interconnected components. We propose reframing climate change and health indicators as a linked system of indicators, which can be described as follows: upstream climate drivers affect environmental states, which then determine human exposures, which ultimately lead to health outcomes; these climate-related risks are modified by population vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies. We apply this new conceptual framework to three illustrative climate-sensitive health outcomes and associated exposure-outcome pathways: pollen allergies and asthma, West Nile Virus infection, and vibriosis.

scholarly journals Positive Externalities of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation for Human Health: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Public Health Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2481
Author(s):  
Jean C. Bikomeye ◽  
Caitlin S. Rublee ◽  
Kirsten M. M. Beyer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Positive Externalities ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation Strategies

Anthropogenic climate change is adversely impacting people and contributing to suffering and increased costs from climate-related diseases and injuries. In responding to this urgent and growing public health crisis, mitigation strategies are in place to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) while adaptation strategies exist to reduce and/or alleviate the adverse effects of climate change by increasing systems’ resilience to future impacts. While these strategies have numerous positive benefits on climate change itself, they also often have other positive externalities or health co-benefits. This knowledge can be harnessed to promote and improve global public health, particularly for the most vulnerable populations. Previous conceptual models in mitigation and adaptation studies such as the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) considered health in the thinking, but health outcomes were not their primary intention. Additionally, existing guidance documents such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidance for Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities is designed primarily for public health professionals or healthcare managers in hospital settings with a primary focus on resilience. However, a detailed cross sectoral and multidisciplinary conceptual framework, which links mitigation and adaptation strategies with health outcomes as a primary end point, has not yet been developed to guide research in this area. In this paper, we briefly summarize the burden of climate change on global public health, describe important mitigation and adaptation strategies, and present key health benefits by giving context specific examples from high, middle, and low-income settings. We then provide a conceptual framework to inform future global public health research and preparedness across sectors and disciplines and outline key stakeholders recommendations in promoting climate resilient systems and advancing health equity.

Droughts, floods and freshwater ecosystems: evaluating climate change impacts and developing adaptation strategies

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Aldous ◽  
James Fitzsimons ◽  
Brian Richter ◽  
Leslie Bach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia

Climate change is expected to have significant impacts on hydrologic regimes and freshwater ecosystems, and yet few basins have adequate numerical models to guide the development of freshwater climate adaptation strategies. Such strategies can build on existing freshwater conservation activities, and incorporate predicted climate change impacts. We illustrate this concept with three case studies. In the Upper Klamath Basin of the western USA, a shift in land management practices would buffer this landscape from a declining snowpack. In the Murray–Darling Basin of south-eastern Australia, identifying the requirements of flood-dependent natural values would better inform the delivery of environmental water in response to reduced runoff and less water. In the Savannah Basin of the south-eastern USA, dam managers are considering technological and engineering upgrades in response to more severe floods and droughts, which would also improve the implementation of recommended environmental flows. Even though the three case studies are in different landscapes, they all contain significant freshwater biodiversity values. These values are threatened by water allocation problems that will be exacerbated by climate change, and yet all provide opportunities for the development of effective climate adaptation strategies.

scholarly journals Public health evidence for the UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Kovats ◽  
R Brisley ◽  
P Watkiss ◽  
G Turner
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Climate Change Risk ◽  
The Third ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Planned Adaptation

Abstract Background The UK has a statutory requirement under the Climate Change Act (2008) to undertake a Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) every five years. The Evidence Report for the Third CCRA, due 2021, will identify the most important current and future risks and opportunities to public health from climate change. It also considers whether present and planned adaptation strategies to are sufficient to manage the risks or additional action is required. Methods The analysis underpinning this review assesses whether risks and actions improve or exacerbate adverse health outcomes and inequalities. This paper reports on the CCRA3 evidence review, which considers the current and likely future impacts of changing flood risk, heatwaves, coastal change, air pollution, vector-borne disease and water quality on public health and healthcare delivery. All risks are assessed by their magnitude, as well as scored by urgency to address them. Results This paper presents the findings for two risks - from heat and coastal flooding impacts on population health and communities. A key focus has been to explore how climate change and policy responses affect the health of vulnerable groups and who could be further disadvantaged by inappropriate adaptation policies. This includes new analysis of the climate risks to health within the built environment and within the health and social care sector. The long-term health consequences of climate change have been considered through potential policy, building and environmental “lock-in”. Such lock-ins include potential risks to inhabitants from overheating due to building regulations failing to address increasing ambient temperatures or homes being built on flood plains. Conclusions Climate change presents challenges to deliver national policy responses ensuring that adaptation remains equitable and optimal for health. The CCRA3 Evidence Report will inform the third UK National Adaptation Plan, setting out Government actions for 2023-2028. Key messages Assess current and future risks and opportunities to public health from climate change. Assess present and planned adaptation strategies for management of risks.

scholarly journals An Approach to Developing Local Climate Change Environmental Public Health Indicators in a Rural District

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Houghton ◽  
Jessica Austin ◽  
Abby Beerman ◽  
Clayton Horton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Environmental Public Health ◽  
Vulnerability Indicators ◽  
Public Health Indicators ◽  
Climate And Health

Climate change represents a significant and growing threat to population health. Rural areas face unique challenges, such as high rates of vulnerable populations; economic uncertainty due to their reliance on industries that are vulnerable to climate change; less resilient infrastructure; and lower levels of access to community and emergency services than urban areas. This article fills a gap in public health practice by developing climate and health environmental public health indicators for a local public health department in a rural area. We adapted the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network’s framework for climate and health indicators to a seven-county health department in Western Kentucky. Using a three-step review process, we identified primary climate-related environmental public health hazards for the region (extreme heat, drought, and flooding) and a suite of related exposure, health outcome, population vulnerability, and environmental vulnerability indicators. Indicators that performed more poorly at the county level than at the state and national level were defined as “high vulnerability.” Six to eight high vulnerability indicators were identified for each county. The local health department plans to use the results to enhance three key areas of existing services: epidemiology, public health preparedness, and community health assessment.

scholarly journals Epistemic injustice, risk mapping and climatic events: analysing epistemic resistance in the context of favela removal in Rio de Janeiro

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-391
Author(s):  
Luciana Mendes Barbosa ◽  
Gordon Walker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Risk Mapping ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
Epistemic Injustice ◽  
Epistemic Justice ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

Abstract. Environmental and climate justice scholarship has increasingly focused on how knowledge and expertise play into the production of injustice and into strategies of resistance and activist claim making. We consider the epistemic injustice at work within the practices of risk mapping and assessment applied in Rio de Janeiro to justify the clearance of favela communities. We trace how in the wake of landslides in 2010, the city authorities moved towards a removal policy justified in the name of protecting lives and becoming resilient to climate change. We examine how favela dwellers, activists and counter-experts joined efforts to develop a partially successful epistemic resistance that contested the knowledge on which this policy was based. We use this case to reflect on the situated character of both technologies of risk and the emergence of epistemic resistance, on the relationship between procedural and epistemic justice, and on the challenges for instilling more just climate adaptation strategies.

scholarly journals Public health and climate change: How are local authorities preparing for the health impacts of our changing climate?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah C Woodhall ◽  
Owen Landeg ◽  
Sari Kovats
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
South West ◽  
South West England ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

ABSTRACT Background Local authorities have a crucial role in preparing for the impacts of climate change. However, the extent to which health impacts are being prioritized and acted on is not well understood. Methods We investigated the role of public health in adapting to climate change through: (i) a content analysis of local authority climate change adaptation strategies in South West England and (ii) semi-structured telephone interviews with local authority public health consultants and sustainability officers and a regional Public Health England representative (n = 11). Results Adaptation strategies/plans varied in existence and scope. Public health consultants did not have an explicit remit for climate change adaptation, although related action often aligned with public health’s emergency planning functions. Key barriers to health-related adaptation were financial constraints, lack of leadership and limited public and professional awareness about health impacts. Conclusions Local authorities in South West England have differing approaches to tackling health impacts of climate change, and the prominence of public health arguments for adaptation varies. Improved public health intelligence, concise communications, targeted support, visible local and national leadership and clarity on economic costs and benefits of adaptation would be useful for local authorities in preparing for the health impacts of climate change.

Health Care

2019 ◽  
pp. 90-113
Author(s):  
Jean Drèze
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Per Capita Gdp ◽  
Per Capita

This chapter discusses the dismal state of health care in India and the scope for change. Drawing on a wealth of survey data, it brings out the gaping deficiencies of public health facilities as well as India's poor health outcomes. In fact, India's health indicators do not compare favourably with those of Bangladesh or even Nepal, in spite of India's much higher per‐capita GDP and faster GDP growth. Of course, some Indian states (notably Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh) have made health care a priority and, correspondingly, forged ahead in terms of health indicators. Recent evidence also suggests significant progress in this field in other states, including some—like Bihar—that have a long record of poor governance.

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