Public Health Impacts of Climate Change

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Biometeorology and Bioclimatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 16753

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA
Interests: human health impacts of climate change; community-based research; environmental health hazards; air pollution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to a 2018 World Health Organization Report, global warming will cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year from heat stress, malnutrition, malaria, and diarrhoea between 2030 and 2050. However, climate change is already resulting in increased morbidity and mortality throughout the world. I invite you to consider submitting your research for publication in this Special Issue of Atmosphere, focusing on “Public Health Impacts of Climate Change”. The aim of this Special Issue is to communicate to the journal’s readership the current state of the science on climate change impacts on human health, with an emphasis on recommendations for interventions and solutions that will reduce climate impacts and protect public health. Relevant current issues of interest include health effects of wildfires, heatwaves, and other extreme weather events; impacts of climate change on global food production and quality; climate-related air pollution effects; and effects of ocean acidification and warming on sea level rise and food supply. There is also interest in submissions regarding health and climate impacts of reduced meat consumption and changes in industrial agriculture; changes in transportation modes and land use planning; and community-based solutions for health impact mitigation and adaptation. Finally, research on how to pivot from data to coordinated climate action is welcome.

Dr. Paul English
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • climate change
  • wildfires
  • heatwaves
  • global food production
  • ocean warming
  • air pollution
  • meat consumption
  • transportation
  • land use
  • community-based research

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5826 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Tree Canopy Cover on Microclimate and Human Thermal Comfort in a Shallow Street Canyon in Wuhan, China
by Zhuodi Huang, Changguang Wu, Mingjun Teng and Yaoyu Lin
Atmosphere 2020, 11(6), 588; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11060588 - 3 Jun 2020
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 6315
Abstract
Increasing the number of street trees can be a promising method to reduce impacts of climate change currently impacting urban public health. However, the quantitative relationships between tree canopy cover and thermal comfort remains unclear, particularly in areas with high temperature and high [...] Read more.
Increasing the number of street trees can be a promising method to reduce impacts of climate change currently impacting urban public health. However, the quantitative relationships between tree canopy cover and thermal comfort remains unclear, particularly in areas with high temperature and high humidity. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the effects of different degrees of tree canopy cover on human thermal comfort in shallow street canyons in a high temperature, high humidity area of China. Microclimatic measurements and qualitative surveys were conducted on sunny summer days in a shallow street canyon in Wuhan. The results suggest that microclimate benefits are greater for areas with a high-percentage tree canopy cover compared to medium- and low-percentage tree canopy cover—especially at noon. In streets with a high-percentage tree canopy cover, afternoon air temperatures and mean radiant temperatures can be reduced by up to 3.3 °C and 13.9 °C, respectively, compared to a similar street with no tree shade. The thermal sensation prediction formula is proposed and the relationship between human thermal sensation and microclimate factors is established. Blocking solar radiation and increasing wind speed are more feasible than controlling air temperature and humidity as ways to improve human thermal comfort. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health Impacts of Climate Change)
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18 pages, 1141 KiB  
Article
Overview of Injuries Associated with Extreme Weather Events in New Hampshire, U.S., 2001–2009
by Kelly Neugent, Kathleen F. Bush, Eric Kelsey, Matthew Cahillane and Eric Laflamme
Atmosphere 2020, 11(3), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030281 - 12 Mar 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3009
Abstract
Global climate change is an environmental hazard with significant public health impacts. High-impact weather events including periods of extreme temperature or extreme precipitation are frequently associated with adverse effects on human health. This study evaluates the impact of extreme weather events on injuries [...] Read more.
Global climate change is an environmental hazard with significant public health impacts. High-impact weather events including periods of extreme temperature or extreme precipitation are frequently associated with adverse effects on human health. This study evaluates the impact of extreme weather events on injuries across New Hampshire. A set of five daily extreme weather metrics (EWMs) was analyzed: daily maximum temperature ≤32 °F (0 °C), daily maximum temperature ≥90 °F (32 °C), daily maximum temperature ≥95 °F (35 °C), daily precipitation ≥1″, and daily precipitation ≥2″. Exposure to these EWMs was defined by linking the population within 10 miles of nine weather stations distributed across the state. Injuries were defined as hospitalizations categorized as: all-cause injury, vehicle accidents, accidental falls, accidents due to natural and environmental causes (including excessive heat, excessive cold, exposure due to weather conditions, lightning, and storms and floods), accidental drowning, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The associations between all injury categories and all EWMs as well as daily maximum temperature and daily precipitation were explored. A quasi-Poisson regression model was used to evaluate the relationship between the four strongest exposure–outcome pairs linking maximum temperature to all-cause injury-, vehicle accident-, accidental fall-, and heat-related hospital visits. Results indicate that daily maximum temperature (>90 °F) was most strongly associated with heat-related hospital visits and was also associated with all-cause injury-related hospital visits. Future work should include further analysis of cold weather metrics and incorporate these findings into public health planning and response efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health Impacts of Climate Change)
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12 pages, 1072 KiB  
Article
Participation and Engagement of Public Health Stakeholders in Climate and Health Adaptation
by Erika Austhof, Vjollca Berisha, Ben McMahan, Gigi Owen, Ladd Keith, Matthew Roach and Heidi E. Brown
Atmosphere 2020, 11(3), 265; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030265 - 7 Mar 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6952
Abstract
Stakeholder participation at the intersection of climate and health is essential to assess and plan for the human health impacts of current and projected climate-sensitive hazards. Using the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) Coalition on Climate Change and Public Health workgroup [...] Read more.
Stakeholder participation at the intersection of climate and health is essential to assess and plan for the human health impacts of current and projected climate-sensitive hazards. Using the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) Coalition on Climate Change and Public Health workgroup and the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) program as examples, this paper describes the important role of scientist–public health stakeholder collaboratives in addressing the public health impacts of climate-sensitive hazards. Using the MCDPH and CLIMAS stakeholder groups, stakeholder connections were mapped to show relationships between the organization types and connections between scientists and public health stakeholders. Stakeholders, defined as meeting attendees, were primarily individuals from academic institutions (n = 175), government agencies (n = 114), non-profits (n = 90), and health departments (n = 85). Engaging public health stakeholders in transdisciplinary regional climate initiatives and addressing gaps in their networks helped these programs to develop more collaborative projects over time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health Impacts of Climate Change)
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