Adaptation in Action: Grantee Success Stories from CDC’s Climate and Health Program
- Abstract
Many factors affect communities; however, few are as far-reaching as the environment. A healthy environment is vital to building a healthy community. Yet protecting public health is more than preserving environmental resources like clean air and water. Protecting public health requires equipping communities with the knowledge and resources to successfully adapt to environmental changes and weather events. In the face of climate change, adaptation skills are needed now more than ever. In 2014, the third National Climate Assessment clearly described climate change as a threat to human health and well-being. Climate change is predicted to result in more extreme heat events, more frequent and violent weather disasters, decreased air quality and more insect-related disease. And, the Assessment states that some of the health impacts of climate change are already happening in the United States. Health effects related to climate will worsen existing health problems as well as introduce new and serious risks to the public’s health. However, we are far from defenseless. Work is well underway to find new, low-cost and creative ways to adapt to the challenges of climate change, and protect our communities from related disease and injury. Leading such work is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Climate and Health Program, as well as a handful of pioneering state and local public health departments across the country. Adapting to climate change will require collaborative action on a large scale and across many different sectors. Public health professionals are perfectly suited to this task. The field has a long and successful history of bringing together diverse stakeholders to improve public health, well-being and resiliency
- Resource Type
- Report
- Author
- American Public Health Association (APHA)
- Date
- March 2015
- Organization Type
- Ngo
- Solution
- Climate adaptation/resilience