Climate Information for Public Health Action

Policy-makers are increasingly concerned about the impact of climate variability and change on the health of vulnerable populations. Variations and trends in climatic factors and extreme weather events impact many health outcomes, including malaria, heat stress and undernutrition. Climate Information for Public Health Action is based on the premise that climate knowledge and information can help protect the public from climate-sensitive health risks. With a focus on infectious disease, hydro-meteorological disasters and nutrition, the book explores why, when and how data on the historical, current and future (from days to decades) climate can be incorporated into health decision-making. Created as a collaborative effort between climate and health experts, this book targets a broad technical public health community, alongside development practitioners and policy-makers engaged in climate change adaptation. It may also guide climate experts in the development of climate services tailored to health needs. Written in an accessible, informative style, while maintaining the highest technical and scientific standards, it will also be a valuable resource for students and academics studying and working in the emerging field of environment and health. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315115603, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license."

Madeleine C. Thomson is a Senior Research Scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Earth Institute, and a Senior Scholar at the Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, at Columbia University, USA. Simon J. Mason is Chief Climate Scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Earth Institute, at Columbia University, USA.

Foreword By Elena Manaenkova Chapter 1: Health Priorities in a Changing Climate Madeleine C. Thomson, Tamer Samah Rabie, Joy Shumake-Guillemot, John McDermott, Wilmot James and Chadia Wannous Chapter 2: Climate Impacts on Disasters, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition Madeleine C. Thomson Contributors: Delia Grace, Ruth DeFries, C. Jessica E. Metcalf, Hannah Nissan and Alessandra Giannini Chapter 3: Connecting Climate Information with Health Outcomes Madeleine C. Thomson, C. Jessica E. Metcalf and Simon Mason Contributors: Adrian M. Tompkins and Mary Hayden Chapter 4: Climate Basics Simon J. Mason Contributors: Madeleine C. Thomson Chapter 5: Climate Variability and Trends: Drivers Simon J. Mason Contributors: Ángel G. Muñoz, Bradfield Lyon and Madeleine C. Thomson Chapter 6: Climate Data: The Past and Present Simon J. Mason, Pietro Ceccato and Chris D. Hewitt Contributors: Theodore L. Allen, Tufa Dinku, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Asher B. Siebert, Michelle Stanton, Madeleine C. Thomson Chapter 7: Weather Forecasts: Up to One Week in Advance Simon J. Mason and Madeleine C. Thomson Contributors: Heat Action Group, Kim Knowlton, Hannah Nissan, Ángel G. Muñoz, Carlos Perez Garcia-Pando and Jeffrey Shaman Chapter 8: Climate Forecasts for Early Warning: Up to Six Months in Advance Simon J. Mason Contributors: Madeleine C. Thomson and Ángel G. Muñoz Chapter 9: Climate information for adaptation: From Years to Decades Hannah Nissan, Madeleine C. Thomson, Simon J. Mason, Ángel G. Muñoz Contributors: Glynn Vale, John W. Hargrove, Arthur M. Greene and Bradfield Lyon. Chapter 10: Climate Information for Public Health Action: Challenges and Opportunities Madeleine C. Thomson and Simon J. Mason Contributors: John del Corral, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Gilma Mantilla and Cristina Li