As global climate change proliferates, so too do the health risks associated with the changing world around us. Called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan and put together by experts from eight different Federal agencies, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: A Scientific Assessment is a comprehensive report on these evolving health risks, including: Temperature-related death and illness Air quality deterioration Impacts of extreme events on human health Vector-borne diseases Climate impacts on water-related Illness Food safety, nutrition, and distribution Mental health and well-being This report summarizes scientific data in a concise and accessible fashion for the general public, providing executive summaries, key takeaways, and full-color diagrams and charts. Learn what health risks face you and your family as a result of global climate change and start preparing now with The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health.

While major strides have been made in the scientific understanding of climate change, much less understood is how these dynamics in the physical enviornment interact with socioeconomic systems. This book brings together the latest knowledge on the consequences of climate change for society and how best to address them.

This document presents the World Health Organization (WHO) operational framework for building climate resilient health systems. The framework responds to the demand from Member States and partners for guidance on how the health sector and its operational basis and health systems can systematically and effectively address the challenges increasingly presented by climate variability and change. This framework has been designed in light of the increasing evidence of climate change and its associated health risks; global, regional and national policy mandates to protect population health; and a rapidly emerging body of practical experience in building health resilience to climate change. Primarily intended for public health professionals and health managers, this framework would also help guide decision-makers in other health-determining sectors, such as nutrition, water and sanitation, and emergency management. International development agencies could use this framework to focus investments and country support for public health, health system strengthening and climate change adaptation. The objective of this framework is to provide guidance for health systems and public health programming to increase their capacity for protecting health in an unstable and changing climate. By implementing the 10 key components laid out in this framework, health organizations, authorities and programs will be better able to anticipate, prevent, prepare for and manage climate-related health risks. Least developed countries and countries in the process of developing the health components of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (4) may find this document particularly useful in their efforts to design a comprehensive response to the risks presented by short-term climate variability and long-term climate change.

Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

Providing a scientific and policy analysis on the challenges of ensuring that adaptation to global climate change doesn't place unfair burdens on vulnerable populations, this book argues that the key to adapting to climate change lies in recognising the equity and justice issues inherent in its causes and in human responses to it.

Adaptation is a process by which individuals, communities and countries seek to cope with the consequences of climate change. The process of adaptation is not new; the idea of incorporating future climate risk into policy-making is. While our understanding of climate change and its potential impacts has become clearer, the availability of practical guidance on adaptation has not kept pace. The development of the Adaptation Policy Framework (APF) is intended to help provide the rapidly evolving process of adaptation policy-making with a much-needed roadmap. Ultimately, the purpose of the APF is to support adaptation processes to protect - and enhance - human well-being in the face of climate change. This volume will be invaluable for everyone working on climate change adaptation and policy-making.