E-Book Overview
Awareness that many key aspects of public health are strongly influenced by climate is growing dramatically, driven by new research and experience and fears of climate change and the research needed to underpin policy developments in area is growing rapidly . This awareness has yet to translate into a practical use of climate knowledge by health policy-makers. Evidence based policy and practice is the mantra of the health sector. If climate scientists are to contribute effectively to health policy at local and global scales then careful empirical studies must be undertaken – focused on the needs of the public health policy and decision-makers.
Results presented at the Wengen conference make clear that the science and art of integrating climate knowledge into the control of climate sensitive diseases on a year to year time frame as well as careful assessments of the potential impacts of climate change on health outcomes over longer time frames is advancing rapidly on many fronts. This includes advances in the empirical understanding of mechanisms, methodologies for modeling future impacts, new partnership developments between the health and climate community along with access to relevant data resources, and education and training. In a rapidly evolving field this book provides a snapshot of these emerging themes.
E-Book Content
Seasonal Forecasts, Climatic Change and Human Health
Madeleine C. Thomson • Ricardo Garcia-Herrera Martin Beniston Editors
Seasonal Forecasts, Climatic Change and Human Health Health and Climate
Madeleine C. Thomson International Research Institute for Climate and Society Columbia University LDEO, Palisades New York 10964 USA
Ricardo Garcia-Herrera Departamento Fisica de la Terra II Facultad de Ciencias Fiscas Universidad Complutense de Madrid Ciudad Universitaria 28040 Madrid, Spain
Martin Beniston University of Geneva Site de Battelle/D7 chemin de Drize CH-1227 Carouge Geneva, Switzerland
ISBN 978-1-4020-6876-8 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-6877-5 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-6877-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2007942723 © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following for their contributions as presenters, rapporteurs, panelists and discussants who participated in the Climate, Climatic Change and Human Health workshop1 (Wengen Switzerland, September 12-14, 2005), co-sponsored by the Graduate School of International Studies (Geneva, Switzerland), NOAA-OAR (Boulder, Colorado, United States), the University of Acre (Acre, Brazil), WHO (Rome, Italy), IRI, Columbia University (New York, United States), and the EU-ENSEMBLES Project (coordinated by the Hadley Center, UK Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom). Joan Aron, Paul J. Beggs, Martin Beniston, Raquel R. Cesario, Manuel Cesario, Andrew Comrie, Stephen J. Connor, Charles Delacollette, Henry Diaz, Diane P. Dupont, Kris Ebi, Roger Few, Regula Gehrig, Joelle Goyette-Pernot, Renate Hagedorn, Chris Hewitt, Andre Kamga, Kim Knowlton, Patrick Kinney, Panagiotis Nastos, Gilma C. Mantilla, Vincent Martin, Simon Mason, Andreas Matzarakis, Glen McGregor, Bettina Menne, Ana Rosa Moreno, Andy Morse, Eduardo R. Palenque, Xavier Rodo, Jacinthe Seguin, Lennie Smith, Michel Thibaudon, Yves M. Tourre, Guojing Yang and Ksenija Zaninovic. The meeting was divided into two sessions: Seas