Dr. Ha will be co-chairing an upcoming symposium on climate change and heath at SER this year.
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Climate change and health: where are we?
Dec 17 @ 1:45 pm – 3:15 pm (Mountain time)
Session Co-Chair: Sandie Ha, University of California, Merced
Session Co-Chair: Carrie Nobles, NICHD
Climate change is an unprecedented threat to human health and the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century. With environmental impacts already observable and more severe impacts anticipated even when meeting global emissions goals, there is an immediate need to not only reduce carbon emissions but to develop strategies to mitigate anticipated health impacts of climate change. Beyond extreme temperatures, climate change is anticipated to impact health through many routes including severe weather events, droughts, wildfires, changes in the distribution of infectious diseases and population displacement due to sea-level rise, with disproportionate impacts in communities with the fewest resources. Epidemiology will play a vital role in estimating and predicting the health impacts of climate change, with efforts requiring cross-disciplinary collaborations and close partnership with policymakers. Despite this, climate change has not received the emphasis within the field of epidemiology needed to match its unprecedented threat to health. We propose a symposium inviting five key leaders in climate change epidemiology to a) present the latest cutting-edge research in climate change epidemiology, b) discuss climate change equity issues facing our communities, and c) discuss challenges and opportunities for research as well as the policy making process related to climate change.
Presenters:
Kristie Ebi, University of Washington
“Climate change and health: how did we get here and where are we going?”
Kate Weinberger, University of British Columbia
“Opportunities for Epidemiologic Research to Inform Adaptation to Climate Change”
Jesse Berman, University of Minnesota
“Existing Challenges, Opportunities and Recent Advances in Drought and Health Research”
Carina Gronlund, University of Michigan
“Translating Climate and Health Knowledge into Testable Interventions in the Industrial Midwest”
Wael Al-Delaimy, University California, San Diego
“Climate change is a reason to revisit our approach as epidemiologists: the role of policy”