I recently received a joint email from the World Meteorological and Health organisations (WMO & WHO) which I like to bring to the attention of our readers. Both because it shows the direction of some new developments, but also because the WMO and WHO are inviting people to share their experience with health and climate. We wrote a post on the subject climate and health in 2011, based on a book by Paul Epstein (who sadly pased away in November 2011) and Dan Ferber (Health on a Changing Planet), and are glad to see an increased emphasis on this topic. The call from WMO/WHO goes as follows:
Guest commentary from Joy Shumake-Guillemot
CALL FOR CASE STUDIES
Climate Services for Health
Enhancing Decision Support for Climate Risk Management and Adaptation
Climate services for health are an emerging technical field for both the health and climate communities. In 2012, WHO and WMO jointly published the Atlas on Climate and Health, drawing attention to the key linkages between climate and health, and how climate information can be used to understand and manage climate sensitive health risks. A new follow-up publication of Case Studies on Climate Services for Health is in preparation, and will take a next step to outline with greater detail how a wide range of health applications can benefit from using climate and weather information; what steps and processes can be used to co-develop and use climate and weather information in the health sector; and showcase how such partnerships and services can really make a difference to the health community.
Submission Guidance – Deadline October 31, 2014
We invite you to share your experiences and call attention to the increasing opportunities to solve health problems with climate service solutions. Case studies should highlight existing partnerships and good practices that demonstrate the broad range of possible applications and the value of using climate information to inform health decisions. Case studies from across health science and practice are welcomed, including examples of climate services for integrated surveillance, disease forecasting, early warning systems, risk mapping, health service planning, risk communication, research, evaluation, infrastructure siting, etc. Additionally, the publication aims to highlight the full range climate-related health issues and risks (i.e. nutrition, NCDs, air pollution, allergens, infectious diseases, water and sanitation, extreme temperatures and weather, etc.) where health decision-making can benefit from climate and weather knowledge at historic, immediate, seasonal, or long-term time scales.
Case studies should be short (~600 words, 2 pages incl. images/diagrams and references) and designed to highlight the added-value that climate services have made for managing climate risks to health. Please find additional guidance on the structure and four elements to be included at http://www.gfcs-climate.org/node/579.
For questions and submission please contact
Dr.Joy Shumake-Guillemot jshumake-guillemot@wmo.int
WHO/WMO Climate and Health Office, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
It’s encouraging to see that they’re asking for information rather than speculation, and case histories rather than models.
Hello Jack Maloney,
I hope You do not mean speculation in a derogatory sense.
As You surely know, abstraction, forging theories and models are the very skills that distinguish humanity from animality (besides creating art)
Alle the best
Marcus
Great to see more on climate change and health. Apart from the book mentioned in the above post, there have been a number of more spec-ialist publications (both books & reports) in last few years, I’d like to mention a few below (list not complete and not meant as an endorsement):
Books:
– “Climate Change and Global Health”, Sep 2014 (ISBN: 1780642652)
– “Global Climate Change and Public Health”, Oct 2014 (ISBN: 1118505573)
– “Health and Climate Change: Modelling the impacts of global warming and ozone depletion”, reprint, Sep 2014 (ISBN: 0415848806)
– “Global Climate Change and Public Health (Respiratory Medicine)”, Oct 2013 (ISBN: 1461484162)
Reports & Factsheets:
– “Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK 2012” (redirects to archived page)
– “IPCC AR5 WG2”, relevant chapters
–
WHO Factsheet (Fact sheet No 266); reviewed Aug 2014
Best wishes, Bernd
Perhaps I’m reading too much into Jack’s comment, but I can’t help but connect it with many, many comments, read over the past decade or so, which derogate climate models in general. What’s remarkable about those comments as a group is the utter ignorance they display of the dependence of those models upon real-world observations. The commenters really believe (or want to believe) that the models were somehow ‘immaculately conceived’ without any trace of ‘the world.’
Of course, the reality is quite otherwise–the creation of models (be they of conduction, radiative transfer, ocean boundary layer parameterizations, or disease patterns) is always based upon empirical data–suitably abstracted (as Marcus hints).
The irony is that some of those same commenters then turn around to adulate G & T, who infamously argued that ‘back-radiation’ is impossible due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics–unaware, apparently, of a two hundred year record of observed said radiation:
http://doc-snow.hubpages.com/hub/Fire-From-Heaven-Climate-Science-And-The-Element-Of-Life-Part-One-Fire-By-Day
http://doc-snow.hubpages.com/hub/Fire-From-Heaven-Climate-Science-And-The-Element-Of-Life-Part-Two-The-Cloud-By-Night
http://doc-snow.hubpages.com/hub/Global-Warming-Science-In-The-Age-Of-Washington-And-Jefferson-William-Charles-Wells
Great to see more on climate change and health. Apart from the book mentioned in the above post, there have been a number of more spec-ialist publications (both books & reports) in last few years, I’d like to mention a few below (list not complete and not meant as an endorsement):
Books:
– “Climate Change and Global Health”, Sep 2014 (ISBN: 1780642652)
– “Global Climate Change and Public Health”, Oct 2014 (ISBN: 1118505573)
– “Health and Climate Change: Modelling the impacts of global warming and ozone depletion”, reprint, Sep 2014 (ISBN: 0415848806)
– “Global Climate Change and Public Health (Respiratory Medicine)”, Oct 2013 (ISBN: 1461484162)
Reports & Factsheets:
– “Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK 2012” (redirects to archived page)
– “IPCC AR5 WG2”, relevant chapters
– WHO Factsheet (Fact sheet No 266); reviewed Aug 2014