Climate Change Health Impacts and Adaptation Strategies Joacim Rocklöv, Associate Professor Epidemiology & global health, Umeå University joacim.rocklov@envmed.umu.se.

Climate Change Health Impacts and Adaptation Strategies

Joacim Rocklöv, Associate ProfessorEpidemiology & global health, Umeå Universityjoacim.rocklov@envmed.umu.sewww.climateandhealth.net

Additional slides”Tackling Climate Change – for a sustainable and healthy future”

Climate Change and Global Health Group, Umeå University

Climate Change and Global Health Group

• Research on health impacts, adaptation and mitigation to climate change

• Global perspectives community focus• Rare formation of ”Public Health Climatologists”…..

Climate Change and Global Health Theme

• Research on impacts, adaptation and mitigation to climate change

• Global perspectives community focus• Rare group of ”Global Health Climatologists”

Outline

1. Weather, climate and climate change2. Climate change impacts3. Health Impacts and adaptation strategies4. Examples

1. Weather, climate and climate change

What is climate?

• Described by physical laws• Complex interaction of atmosphere, sun, vegetation, oceans

and humans• Characterized by different climate types – e.g. arctic,

temperate, tropical, step, monsoonal, arid… • Realisation of weather (rain mm, sun hours, temperature,

wind speed and direction, etc.)• Statistics of weather (long term averages) describes the

climate

What is climate change?

• Imbalance of energy in the climate system• Manmade climate change is caused by greenhouse

gases generated by human activities

2. Impacts

IPCC. Special report on extreme events. 2012.

Heavy Rain Extreme Heat

Reference: http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/

3. Climate change and health

Pathways/processes by which climate change affect human health

Reference: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/contents.html

Epidemiologic research tasks

• Exposure-response relationships between climate variation and health outcomes

• Estimate the current health burden (e.g., annual deaths) attributable to climate change

• Develop scenario-based modelling to project health risks

• Assess health harms and benefits of proposed mitigation and adaptation policy options

Adaptation

= preparedness and prevention of impacts• Education• Policies• InterventionsBoth top-down and bottom-up perspectives are needed:• National policies and strategies• Community involvement• Mixed methods

Example - Sweden

Impacts and adaptation strategies:• Health conditions in Sweden are sensitive to climate change, and the

potential impacts was described where such evidence existed in the 2007 National Climate and Vulnerability Assessment (SOU 2007:60)

• Recommendations in form of adaptation strategies was developed in and after the assessment

• Many of which are being emphasized and implemented presently

Examples of undergoing adaptation activities:• Heat waves (warnings system under development)• Borreliosis (increased surveillance and preparedness northwards)• Drinking water (surface water sources; under research; new

technology investments, e.g. UV-light)

• Epidemiology of disease directly related to weather and climate extremes (heat waves, floods)

• Epidemiology of disease indirectly related to weather and climate (malaria, dengue, waterborne disease, vole fever etc.)

• Occupational health and productivity• Perceptions, experiences and knowledge of the public to climate

change and health• Projections of disease under climate change scenarios• Research and policies for mitigation and adaptation• ICT and eHealth in adaptation and mitigation• Community adaptation to climate change health impacts (e.g.

early warnings and action plans, mixed methods)

Example – mixed methods in adaptation research

A doctoral project in Kenya seeks to:Increase compliance, preparedness and health seeking behaviour to reduce under five mortality in malaria in Kenya by ”epidemic” early warnings disseminated through mobile phones to mothers

Quantitative part:• Develop the early warning by predictions of incidence using lags

of e.g. weather (1)• Evaluate the intervention by a controlled interrupted time series

design (4)Qualitative part:• interviews to help implement the mobile phone intervention

among stakeholder (3)• interviews to seek knowledge on how to develop the messages

and instructions among community participants/mothers (2)