Climate Change and Human Health

Overview

Climate change is expected to have serious consequences for public health.  Increasing air pollution and more frequent days of extreme heat, for example, put people at greater risk for illness and death. However, public health consequences are often overlooked in discussions about climate change. Typically, local health officials have little concrete information about how climate change will affect health in their communities.

To address this knowledge gap, NWCPHP is collaborating with scientists from the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and the UW Climate Impacts Group to study the impact of climate change on human health in the Pacific Northwest. Using historical, community-specific data on climate, illness, and deaths, this research is generating evidence-based forecasts of the health impacts of climate change in Washington counties. The research findings will provide data for public health officials and other county leaders to use in identifying the needs of at-risk populations and in making evidence-based program and policy decisions. The goal is to help counties reduce the health impacts of climate change in their communities. 

This three-year project was funded in 2009 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Methods

Two teams of researchers are collaborating to generate data on the human effects of climate change and to help Washington communities use these data. One team is devising statistical models to predict  the likely county-specific impact of climate trends (increasing extreme heat events and worsening air pollution) on associated hospitalization and death rates. The second team is working with local health departments, identifying their information needs and helping them use the scientific data to design action plans and credible health messages about the health effects of climate change.

Tools for the Field

Climate trends: Using historical (1970-2006) climate data for May through September in three Washington State counties, researchers have identified upward trends in average daily temperatures. Based on climate science, these trends are projected to continue and become more extreme in the future.

Health effects of heat: Using hospitalization and death certificate data, researchers have identified negative impacts of heat on health, particularly among older age groups. Projections based on statistical models and climate warming scenarios suggest how these impacts can be expected to worsen in the years to come.

Data for climate change mitigation and adaptation: Researchers have begun sharing county-specific data with three local health departments (Clark County Public Health, Public Health - Seattle & King County, and Spokane Regional Health District) and helping them use the findings for education, planning, and policy development.

Researchers

Richard Fenske, PhD, Principal Investigator
Susan Allan, MD, JD, MPH, Co-Investigator
Tania Busch Isaksen, MPH, Graduate Research Assistant
Cole Fitzpatrick, MS, Research Scientist
Elizabeth Hom, MPH, Graduate Research Assistant
Catherine Karr, MD, PhD, Co-Investigator
Sheryl Magzamen, PhD, MPH, Research Scientist
Hendrika Meischke, PhD, Co-Investigator
Helen Murphy, DrPH, Co-Investigator
Eric Salathe, PhD, Co-Investigator
Beryl Schulman, PhD, Research Coordinator
John Thompson, MSW, Co-Investigator
Charles Treser, MPH, Co-Investigator
Michael Yost, PhD, Co-Investigator


For questions about this project, please contact Beryl Schulman at beryl@u.washington.edu.