Integration of Public Health with Adaptation to Climate Change: Lessons Learned and New Directions

Humans have been adapting to a changing climate throughout history. Whether by innovation or migration we have developed a considerable capacity for "acclimatizing" to our environment. Since the mid 19th century, however, the rate of change has been increasing and the fact that this anthropogenically forced acceleration cannot be sufficiently reduced will have a significant impact on public health in the near and medium future. How severe the impact will be depends largely on our capacity to adapt and its effective deployment. By exploring cases histories in public health, Integration of Public Health with Adaptation to Climate Change: Lessons Learned and New Directions identifies the key adjustments necessary for public health systems to effectively adapt to this accelerated climate change. Taking into consideration the large portion of the global population without access to adequate nutrition, clean drinking water, or a viable public health system, the book examines the added influence of climate-sensitive diseases, their mutation, incubation, and migration, on life expectancy, economic productivity, and quality of life. The new challenge is to develop and deploy a capacity for more rapid social and technological adaptation, and to ensure that this capacity is universally and equitably distributed in the face of global environmental change. The option of the hunter/gatherer to simply pick up and move to more attractive climes is no longer available to today's higher population densities and fixed infrastructures. Effective adaptation to this rapid climate change must come from a conscious, planned, anticipatory approach. To do this we must use what we've learned from the lessons of our past