Climate Change from a Human Health Perspective

Experts gather in Barcelona, Spain, to explore the consequences of climate change on human health.

Published April 30, 2015

By Diana Friedman

The New York Academy of Sciences, in partnership with the “la Caixa” Foundation and BIOCAT, will host a 2-day conference, Human Health in the Face of Climate Change: Science, Medicine, and Adaptation, on May 14-15, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain.

“The threat of climate change to health will take many forms – from a more dangerous physical environment to the worsening quality of air and water to the spread of infectious diseases,” says Christopher Dye, DPhil, FMedSci, FRS, Director, Strategy, Office of the Director General at the World Health Organization, as well as a conference organizer and keynote speaker.

The conference is being convened in light of new research that seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the health consequences of climate change on humans – including better quantification of these effects – to improve health preparedness and protect vulnerable populations.

“Many infectious and non-communicable diseases are climate sensitive. They may be associated with specific seasons; respond to extreme events such as droughts, heatwaves, or flood; or shift in their distribution according to shifts in the long-term climate,” says Madeleine Thomson, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University, as well as a conference organizer and speaker.

Empowering the Health Community

“Climate knowledge and information can be used to understand, predict, and better manage climate-sensitive health outcomes and can also help us to assess the impact of many health interventions. With a changing climate, understanding these connections and empowering the health community to use this knowledge is key to effective adaptation,” adds Thomson.

“We need to move forward effectively and quickly as our actions as humans are moving our climate to dangerous and unprecedented states that will for sure exert a strong pressure on the health status of people globally,” says Xavier Rodó, PhD, ICREA & Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences (IC3), as well as a conference organizer and speaker. “We need new science that teaches us how to face and respond to this challenge. This conference attempts to highlight those areas that require new science, as well as methods to spur policymakers into action by working together,” adds Rodó.

Topics to be explored at this multidisciplinary conference include: changes in the distribution of extreme climate events, vulnerability due to extreme weather events, land-use change and agricultural production, variable epidemiology of parasites and infectious diseases, and climate-altering pollutants.

The conference is designed to be of interest to climate scientists, atmospheric/oceanic scientists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, epidemiologists, public health specialists, and policymakers, among others, as well as members of the media.

“The impact on human health is among the most significant measures of the harm done by climate change – and health can be a driving force for public engagement in climate solutions,” says Dye.

Also read: Climate Change and Collective Action: The Knowledge Resistance Problem