Global Climate Change and Health: Challenges for Future Practitioners

OVERVIEW Global climate change is expected to have broad health impacts. If current warming trends continue, heat waves, floods, and droughts and their attendant physical effects are likely to become more frequent and severe. Warmer air temperatures can influence the concentration of regional air pollutants and aeroallergens. Less direct health impacts may result from the disruption of ecosystems and of water and food supplies, which in turn could affect infectious disease incidence and nutritional status. Finally, sea-level rise could lead to major population displacement and economic disruption.