State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

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Health people, meet climate people!

Since Monday, 12 public-health professionals and climate scientists from ten countries have been at Columbia University’s Lamont campus to learn how to use climate information to make better decisions in health-care planning and disease prevention. They’re taking part in the second Summer Institute on Climate Information for Public Health, organized by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the Mailman School of Public Health.

A glimpse of last year's Summer Institute. Daniel Yeow/IRI
A glimpse of last year's Summer Institute. Daniel Yeow/IRI

In thinking about climate change, it’s essential for the health community to better understand the role climate plays in determining the fundamentals of health (clean air & water, food, etc.) as well as its role as a driver of some infectious diseases.

“After all, health is fundamental to the way we understand human well-being, and a key indicator of sustainable development,” says Madeleine Thomson, who runs the IRI’s Health and Africa programs. “Here, we like to think of climate as both a challenge and a resource.”

Extreme weather events or prolonged droughts are often associated with negative outcomes, Thomson says, but by understanding climate and its associated impacts and potential predictability, decision makers can start responding proactively to climate challenges. In some situations, they can even get ahead of the game.

“This climate risk management approach is new to the health sector and, therefore, we are particularly excited to have such a talented group of participants and facilitators to explore the most effective ways to use climate information in decision making,” says Thomson.

Facilitators such as Patrick L. Kinney, the director of the new Climate and Health Program at The Mailman School. He and Mailman colleague Kim Knowlton will be lecturing on the health impacts of climate change next week.

The course targets professionals who play a research role in the operational decision making or public health-care planning, evaluation, surveillance or control of climate-sensitive diseases. This year’s participants include heads of disease-surveillance and epidemic preparedness and response teams, forecast and early-warning specialists, climate scientists and biostatisticians. They come from institutions in Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America.

The students face an intense schedule, packed with lectures and exercise sessions meant to introduce them to computational tools that integrate epidemiological data with the wide variety of available climate, population and environmental data.

The Summer Institute runs from June 1 to June 12. For more information, please visit the SI2009 home page.

Science for the Planet: In these short video explainers, discover how scientists and scholars across the Columbia Climate School are working to understand the effects of climate change and help solve the crisis.
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Laurence
Laurence
14 years ago

Hi Francesco,
Thank you for posting this out.
This is a great initiative, indeed.
Just think about the current influenza pandemic issue ( WHO epidemic level has been raised to 6 today) and the idea that influenza is seasonal and influenced by climate! The health and climate communities have a lot to gain by collaborating.

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14 years ago

[…] Summer Institute, mentioned here, drew to a close last week and while attending a session on final presentations by the […]

CNA Training
14 years ago

What a great movement towards human health issue with current growing concerns about global warming. With current climate change level, it’s essential for the health community to better understand the role climate plays that will determine the fundamentals of health for all the human society.