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Global Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: Understanding the Contributions to Infectious Disease Emergence

6 Nov 2008

Paul Chinnock

Source: National Academies Press (see original article)

Evidence is mounting that earth’s climate is changing at a faster rate than previously appreciated, leading researchers to view the longstanding relationships between climate and infectious disease with new urgency and from a global perspective. The issue was discussed in December 2007 at public workshop hosted, in Washington DC, USA, by the Forum on Microbial Threats. A 304-page report on that meeting has now been published.

The report considers the possible infectious disease impacts of global climate change and extreme weather events on human, animal, and plant health, as well as their expected implications for global and national security. It is divided into four parts as follows:

• Climate Change Challenges

• Climate, Ecology, and Infectious Disease

• Historical, Scientific, and Technological Approaches to Studying the Climate-Disease Connection

• Policy Implications of the Health Effects of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events.

The report notes that its key findings (below) reflect the considerable scientific uncertainty that still exists regarding the causal relationship between global climate change and infectious disease emergence.

Key findings: Linkages between climate and infectious diseases

• Weather fluctuations and seasonal-to-interannual climate variability influence many infectious diseases.

• Observational and modelling studies must be interpreted cautiously.

• The potential disease impacts of global climate change remain highly uncertain.

• Climate change may affect the evolution and emergence of infectious diseases.

• There are potential pitfalls in extrapolating climate and disease relationships from one spatial or temporal scale to another.

• Recent technological advances will aid efforts to improve modelilng of infectious disease epidemiology.

The book may be purchased but the contents can be read on line free. There is also an executive summary.

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