Building Resilience against Climate Effects: A Novel Framework to Facilitate Climate Readiness in Public Health Agencies

Marinucci, Gino; Luber, George; Uejio, Christopher K.; Saha, Shubhayu; Hess, Jeremy

doi:10.1201/b19932-15

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…63,64 Public health adaptation reflects short-or long-term strategies aimed at reducing the negative health impacts and working across sectors for resilience to climate change. 65 Critical components of local health sector adaptation include cross-sectoral collaboration and educating policy makers about the connection between climate change and health. 66 Though it is important to invest in U.S. climate change adaptation across all sectors, committing funds specifically to health and health-related adaptation is critical to save lives.…”

Section: Prevention Of Further Dangerous Climate Change: Transitioninmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the health, safety, welfare, and dignity of all humans

Kuehn

Balbus²

2019

Jaapa

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This Brief focuses on connections between climate change and health in the United States (U.S.) in 2017. It draws out some of the most nationally-relevant findings of the global 2018 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report with U.S.-specific data to highlight the key threats and opportunities climate change poses for the health of Americans. Climate Change Threatens Americans' Health Now Increases in heat and heatwaves pose a serious threat to health and labor productivity. More Americans are being exposed to extreme heat as a result of above-average and record-setting temperatures in the U.S., and heatwaves have been getting more frequent and lasting longer. This puts people at risk for heat exhaustion and heat stroke while worsening chronic conditions such as lung, heart, and kidney disease, which increases healthcare utilization and costs. Increased heat has health implications for laborers and has contributed to the loss of approximately 1.1 billion labor hours in the U.S. between 2000 and 2017. Increases in extreme weather events significantly threaten both health and health systems. In 2017, there were 16 extreme weather disasters in the U.S., from severe hurricanes to extensive wildfires, that each cost more than a billion dollars and together cost over $313 billion. While each type of disaster poses different threats to human health, they all can lead to death. The official death toll was estimated at 3,278 lives, though the actual number is likely much higher, highlighting the need for better surveillance. Climate change is elevating the risk of mosquito-, tick-, and water-borne diseases. Climate-sensitive vector-borne illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas, including Lyme disease and West Nile virus, tripled between 2004-2016. Longer warm water seasons and increased water temperatures support pathogens and bacteria, like Vibrio, which can cause gastrointestinal illnesses, food poisoning, skin infections, and even death. Prevention of Further Dangerous Climate Change: Transitioning to Renewable Clean Energy Hospitals can lead America's efforts to transform the energy system. Increasingly affordable renewable energy sources in the U.S. have created the opportunity for a transition towards solar and wind energy, which results in cleaner air and water with fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While this change is already happening, it must accelerate. Healthcare systems are major energy consumers, are well-placed to lead, and should ensure that their own operations are powered by renewable energy in order to minimize harm from their activities. Healthcare should extend its commitment to "do no harm" by divesting from the fossil fuel industry and investing in innovative solutions that will improve health now and for future generations. While public health departments across America are responding to climate change, healthrelated adaptation spending is inadequate for the challenge ahead. Forward-thinking public health departments and cities across America are already developing sh...

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Section: Prevention Of Further Dangerous Climate Change: Transitioninmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the health, safety, welfare, and dignity of all humans

Kuehn

Balbus²

2019

Jaapa

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“…Combined with the almost $4 trillion annual investment that would be needed regardless during that time—in smart electric energy grids and greater energy generation efficiency, the $1 trillion renewables investment would help stimulate offsetting economic growth. And in a global economy of $75 trillion, the modest investment would also stimulate substantial economic activity (have a beneficial economic multiplier effect; see below for discussion of the economics of climate), and help promote greater public health (Buonocore, ; Hajat, Vardoulakis, Heaviside, & Eggen, ; Marinucci, Luber, Uejio, Saha, & Hess, ; Woodward et al, ).…”

Section: The Environmental Security Mandate: Climate As a Primary Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Security is Homeland Security: Climate Disruption as the Ultimate Disaster Risk Multiplier

O'Sullivan¹

2015

Risk, Hazards &Amp; Crisis in Public Policy

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There are several important linkages among environmental hazards and crises caused (at least in part) by human‐caused global warming, and both homeland security and national security risk analysis and practice. Increasingly robust research has demonstrated (1) anthropogenic climate change and its interaction with other human environmental pressures (population, pollution, and resource consumption growth); (2) worsening climate disruption patterns and disaster projections, showing long‐range risk to the very survival of human civilization; and (3) links among environmental hazards, human economic and political instability, and development of political violence. This paper discusses how and why environmental security (ES) and homeland security (HS) are linked, including the threat‐multiplying aspect of climate disruption risk factors; briefly contextualizes their growing interconnectedness in both theory and policy practice; and reviews some of what is most recently known about the science of climate disruption. It reviews disaster mitigation and resilient adaptation policy implications of climate variables such as extreme heat and drought, extreme storms, sea level rise, ocean ecosystem damage, and food and water crises. Most U.S. government security‐related organizations now incorporate HS‐ES mission statements, but current environmental security risk management and planning investment is insufficient, and burdened by political obstruction and costly scientific uncertainties.

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“…assessing climate change-related risks and responding appropriately so that they can be managed as they arise). 10,11 The UKCIP (formerly known as the UK Climate Impacts Program) at the University of Oxford offers online risk-based adaptation resources to assist organisations with local climate change adaptation planning. 10 Steps include assessment of current and future climate vulnerabilities and development and evaluation of agency-appropriate adaptation measures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10 The US Centres for Disease Control have developed a similar framework for Building Resilience against Climate Effects (BRACE) by public health agencies. 11 Adapting to climate change by hospital and community health services would entail identifying effects on a population's health and its use of health services, as well as preparing for the effects of climate change on health service resources, workforce and infrastructure. In this paper we illustrate how the existing models and available data can be used by local health services to predict the local risks and prepare for the effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To do this, we outline the climate change predictions for the Sydney metropolitan area, present the health service problems and vulnerabilities for the Local Health Districts (LHDs) and consider the potential of LHDs to respond. As recommended by existing frameworks, 10,11 subsequent steps would entail the New South Wales (NSW) health service and its LHDs developing and implementing their own climate and health adaptation plans, possibly within the existing disaster management frameworks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Local Health Districts can prepare for the effects of climate change: an adaptation model applied to metropolitan Sydney

Rychetnik

Sainsbury

Stewart³

2019

Aust. Health Review

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Climate change adaptation can be defined as a form of risk management (i.e. assessing climate changerelated risks and responding appropriately so that the risks can be pre-emptively minimised and managed as they arise). Adapting to climate change by hospital and community health services will entail responding to changing health needs of the local population, and to the likely effects of climate change on health service resources, workforce and infrastructure. In this paper we apply a model that health services can use to predict and respond to climate change risks and illustrate this with reference to Sydney's Local Health Districts (LHDs). We outline the climate change predictions for the Sydney metropolitan area, discuss the resulting vulnerabilities for LHDs and consider the potential of LHDs to respond. Three 'core business' categories are examined: (1) ambulance, emergency and acute health care; (2) routine health care; and (3) population and preventative health services. We consider the key climate change risks and vulnerabilities of the LHDs' workforce, facilities and finances, and some important transboundary issues. Many Australian health services have existing robust disaster plans and management networks. These could be expanded to incorporate local climate and health adaptation plans.What is known about the topic? There is an inextricable relationship between climate change and human health, with important implications for the delivery of health services. Climate change will affect health service demand, and the resources, workforce and infrastructure of health services. What does this paper add? This paper outlines how local health services can use existing data sources and models for assessing their climate change-related risks and vulnerabilities to predict, prepare for and respond to those risks. This is illustrated with reference to Sydney's LHDs. What are the implications for practitioners? Adaptation to climate change by health services is an important component of risk management. Local health services need to prepare for the effects of climate change by assessing the risks and developing and implementing climate and health adaptation plans.

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Building Resilience against Climate Effects: A Novel Framework to Facilitate Climate Readiness in Public Health Agencies

Cited by 6 publications

References 60 publications

Addressing the health, safety, welfare, and dignity of all humans

Addressing the health, safety, welfare, and dignity of all humans

Environmental Security is Homeland Security: Climate Disruption as the Ultimate Disaster Risk Multiplier

How Local Health Districts can prepare for the effects of climate change: an adaptation model applied to metropolitan Sydney

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