Government Reports:
Agnew B. Planet Earth, getting too hot for health? WHO Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2001;79(11):1090-92.
Most climatologists believe the Earth’s atmosphere is warming; no one knows how high, how fast. There is little doubt among leading scientists who have taken part in recent studies that CC is a reality, according to WHO environmental health expert Dr. Carlos Corvalan. A nation’s ability to adapt to CC “depends on such factors as wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities.” Dr. Patz, director of the program on health effects of global environmental change (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests GW will place huge new demands on PH officials.
The WHO IPCC Report and other reports including US NAS report on GW and ID (April 2001) lists these climate triggered health threats: Vector-borne diseases; Heat-related deaths; Cold-related mortality might decline; Air pollution in urban areas; Extreme weather events related outbreaks of disease; Population displacement from rising seas; Malnutrition risks and diseases associated with malnutrition; Warming oceans promote toxic algal blooms and associated diarrheal diseases; Emerging infectious diseases.
More research is needed but action is needed now to prevent, mitigate, and adapt to changes.
British Embassy. The Economics of Climate Change Symposium. November 28, 2006. Available March 24, 2008 online at: http://www.uknow.or.jp/be_e/environment/stern-symposium/ Also see: The Economics of Climate Change. The Stern Review. Nicholas Stern, Cabinet Office-HM Treasury (ISBN-13:9780521700801, January 2007. Available online: http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/print.asp?isbn=9780521700801&print=y
Symposium co-hosted by the British Embassy Tokyo and the Nihon Keizai Newspaper at the United Nations University. Keynote speech by Sir Nicholas Stern who presented findings of his major report on the economics of climate change which was published October 2006. Extensive discussion found online with both favorable and unfavorable comments.
Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Policy on Climate Change and Public Health.Available online March 21, 2008: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/climatechange/
Recommendations from January 2007 CDC conference. Eleven priority health actions outlined. 1. Serve as credible source of information on CC and PH; 2. Track data on environmental conditions, disease risks, and disease occurrence related to CC; 3. Expand modeling and forecasting capacity; 4. Enhance science base; 5. Identify locations and populations at greatest risk of specific health threats such as heat waves; 6. communicate health-related aspects of CC: risks and ways to reduce them-to public, decision makers, and providers; 7. develop partnerships with other government agencies, private sector, NGOs, universities and international organizations; 8 provide leadership to state and local governments, community leaders, healthcare professionals, NGOs, faith-based communities, private sector and public; 9 develop/implement preparedness and response plans for health threats such as heat waves, severe weather events and infectious diseases; 10. Provide technical advice to health departments etc; 11. Promote workforce development by helping ensure the training of a new generation of competent, experienced PH staff to respond to the health threats posed by CC.
Additional resources include: 1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN Environment Programm (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO); 2. U.S. Climate Change Science Program (cosponsored by 13 federal agencies with oversight by Office of Science and Technology Policy, Council on Environmental Quality; the National Economic Council and the Office of Management and Budget; 3. U.S. EPA-Climate Change.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 Synthesis Report. United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Available online March 21, 2008: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf
Excellent 123 pp report by IPCC. Core writing team 40 persons, including 9 from the U.S. Report was reviewed by 193 member governments of the IPCC and > 2,400 individual experts. Contains extensive Glossary. The Report is organized as follows: Introduction; 1. Observed changes in climate and their effects; 2.Causes of change; 3. Climate change and its impacts in the near and long term under different scenarios; 4. Adaptation and mitigation options and responses, and the inter-relationship with sustainable development, at global and regional levels; 5. The long-term perspective: scientific and socio-economic aspects relevant to adaptation and mitigation, consistent with the objectives and provisions of the Convention, and in the context of sustainable development; 6. Robust findings, key uncertainties. Annex’s I-VII.
The impacts of future climate changes include: 1. health status of millions of people is projected to be affected through: malnutrition, increased deaths, diseases and injuries from extreme weather events; increased diarrheal diseases; increased cardio-respiratory diseases due to higher levels of air pollution; altered spatial distribution of some infectious diseases. Some benefits: fewer deaths from cold exposure but benefits will be outweighed by negative health effects of rising temperatures, especially in developing countries. Critically important will be factors that directly shape the health of populations such as education, health care, public health infrastructure and initiatives and economic development.
United Nations Chronicle With climate, including global warming, as complicators Malaria, in second place, sees fewer victims, but greater difficulty of control. 1999;36(1):19.
The geographical area affected by malaria has decreased over the past 50 years but control is becoming more difficult and gains have been eroded. A variety of causes may account for this, including global climate change.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Climate Change: Protecting Public Health. Available online March 22, 2008: http://www.cdc.gov/Feathures/ClimateChange/
Dr. Gerberding testified October 23 before the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works during hearings on Climate Change and Public Health. Available online March 22, 2008: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/ClimateChange/ The White House redacted Gerberding’s original 14 page written testimony of October 23, 2007, to 6 pages. See AP story by Hebert, Oct 24, 2007.
http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/file-uploads/Draft_CDC_testimony_23oct07.pdf
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=7c34e37a-8a6f-4753-bc2e-26d19b8a2794
Dr. Gerberdin’s original and censored written testimony and the Senate Hearings chaired by Senator Boxer: “Examining the Human Health Impacts of Global Warming” are available online March 22, 2008: http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/censored_cdc_testimony
U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Available online on March 22, 2008: http://www.climatescience.gov
U.S. Climate Change Science Program: Vision for the Program and Highlights of the Scientific Strategic Plan. July 2003. A Report by the Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research. Prepared in compliance with Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-554. Available online on March 22, 2008: http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/stratplan2003/vision/ccsp-vision.pdf
The Secretaries of Energy (Spencer Abraham), Commerce (Donald Evans) and Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy (John Marburger) wrote to Congress (July 2003): “The Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program” responds to the President’s direction that climate change research activities be accelerated to provide the best possible scientific information to support public discussion and decision-making on climate-related issues. The plan also responds to Section 104 of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which mandates the development and periodic updating of a long-term national global change research plan coordinated through the National Science and technology Council. …The President established the U.S. Climate Change Science Program in 2002 as part of a new cabinet-level management structure to oversee public investments in climate change science and technology.”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Climate change and public health. EPA Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation (2171) 236-F-97-005, October 1997.
“The balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate.” (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations and World Meteorological Organization.” Exactly how much risk is entailed is difficult to quantify since human populations differ in vulnerability and factors such as crowding, food scarcity, poverty, and local environmental decline make populations in some developing countries especially vulnerable. Also aging population raises health risks. Potential health impacts from global climate change include:
What needs to be done? 1. Everyone has a part to play in preventing probable negative health effects from climate change; 2. Reduce burning fossil fuels; 3. Conservation measures (gains of 10-30% above present levels feasible at little or no cost through use of available technologies, development of new energy technologies and better land management practices; 4. Federal, State, and local government need to enact flexible and cost-effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 5. Physicians and PH practitioner improved primary health care for vulnerable populations; better PH monitoring, disease surveillance and control, disaster preparedness, vaccination, and public education. 6. Communities and state government better management of ecosystems, wider use of protective technologies such as sea walls and levees, and improved water purification. 7. Research to assess risks from adaptive strategies.
This EPA paper references: McMichael AJ, et al 1996 Human population health (Chapter 18). In Climate change 1995—impacts, adaptations, and mitigation of climate change: Scientific-technical analyses. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pp 563-84.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Reports: Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006, February 2008. Available online, March 22, 2008: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emmissions/usinventoryreport.html.
The Draft Report is open for public comment till April 6, 2008. The Report provides an emissions inventory for primary anthropogenic sources and sinks of GHG regarding CC. The Report uses a consistent mechanism that enables Parties to the UN Framework convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to compare the relative contribution of different emission sources and GHG to climate change. The Report is revised annually. Of 14 members of the Subcommittee, two are from health related agencies (DHHS and EPA). There is little mention of public health implications of climate change in this Report. In the Section Human Contributions and Responses is the statement: “Assessments of the potential consequences of global change for human health in the United States.” In Appendix B a brief list of related activities are provided for the DHHS and NIH (UV radiation: skin, eyes, etc); NIEHS (Chlorfluorcarbons); NIH and CDC: global change and human health re infectious diseases.
In Appendix C: Key Gaps in the Science of Climate Change, the following statement appears: “ Health outcomes in response to climate change are the subject of intense debate…The understanding of the relationships between weather/climate and human health is in its infancy and therefore the health consequences of climate change are poorly understood. The costs, benefits, and availability of resources for adaptation are also uncertain.” (p.20)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Climate Change. Available online March 22, 2008; Last updated January 15, 2008: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
Provides basic information and frequent questions regarding U.S. Climate Policy; What You Can Do; Climate Economics and Other Resources.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Climate Change-Climate Economics. Available online March 22, 2008: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/economics/economicanalyses.html#s2191
Economic analyses conducted by EPA regarding the economic and environmental effects of potential domestic climate change mitigation programs and strategies, including: The U.S. EPA Analysis of Senate Bill S.2191 in the 110 Congress, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008; Part 2 of the US EPA analysis of Senate Bill S.1766 in the 110th Congress, the Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007 and other Bills.
U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990. Public Law 101-606 (11/16/90) 104 Stat. 3096-3124. Available online March 18, 2008 at: U.S. Global Change Research Information Office. http://www.gcrio.org/gcact1990.html
Global (climate) change may significantly alter the Earth habitat within a few generations: global warming; increased sea levels with adverse effects on: agricultural and marine production, coastal habitability, biological diversity, human health and global economic and social well-being.
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works: Hearing: Examining the Human Health Impacts of Global Warming. Tues, Oct. 23, 2007, EPW Hearing Room-406 Dirksen. Panel 1: Dr. Gerberding and Frumkin; Panel 2: Drs. McCally, Roberts, and Susan Cooper MSN, RN. Video available online March 22, 2008: http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/censored_cdc_testimony/
Senator Boxer D. CA Chair. Video of entire Senate Committee hearing. Panelists: McCally (PSR) and Susan Cooper Commissioner, TN Department of Health, representing Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=about_astho.html&PHPSESSID=b1543f448b04b5f327448f14f7e73445:
Urged strong Congressional action on Climate Change related Public Health problems. CDC Director J.Gerberding agreed that CC is a problem but there is uncertainty with much of the science; she called for significant increase in leadership and action so CDC can participate more with WHO in addressing pressing issues regarding CC. Panelist Roberts, Retired Professor from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences expressed skepticism about the relationship between CC and VBDs.
White House: Key Gaps in the Science of Climate Change. From the White House document at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/climatechange.pdf. Advancing the Science of Climate Change.
This material also found in Appendix C of The U.S. Climate Change Science Program Vision for the Program and Highlights of the Scientific Strategic Plan, p. 33 (see above)
Under the heading: The details and impacts of regional climate change resulting from global climate change are uncertain: “ Health outcomes in response to climate change are the subject of intense debate…The understanding of the relationships between weather/climate and human health is in its infancy and therefore the health consequences of climate change are poorly understood. The costs, benefits, and availability of resources for adaptation are also uncertain.” (p.20)