12:00–1:00 P.M., 6 November 2009
Thanks to all those that participated in the Climate Services Webinar on Climate Services and Health. We also appreciate the interest of many who were not able to join the webinar, and hope that this online recorded version will stimulate your thoughts and efforts in this topic.
We had two prominent panelists leading this webinar:
Dr. George Luber is an epidemiologist and the Associate Director for Global Climate Change for the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recently, his work has focused on the epidemiology and prevention of heat-related illness and death, the development of municipal heat response plans, and the application of remote sensing techniques to modeling vulnerability to heat stress in urban environments. Dr. Luber is also a co-chair of the Human Contributions and Responses Interagency Work Group for the US Climate Change Science Program.
Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Earth System Science at Stanford University. His research interests are centered on the dynamics and impacts of climate variability and change, including the role of humans in the climate system, the role of fine-scale processes in shaping phenomena such as extreme weather, climate-vegetation feedbacks, atmospheric forcing of the coastal ocean, and Holocene climate variability. His group’s work has also focused on the potential impacts of greenhouse-induced climate changes on natural and human systems, including human health and poverty vulnerability. Dr. Diffenbaugh serves on the Executive Committee of the Atmospheric Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union, and as an Editor of Geophysical Research Letters. He has provided high level scientific briefings and has work has been prominent in refereed science journals.
The Committee's primary objective for our webinars (this is the third in an ongoing series) is to enhance the dialogue within the three components of our weather and climate community -private/commercial, academic, and governmental, in the area of climate services for societal sectors -- in this case, for public health.
This webinar provided a basic understanding of the ways climate information is useful in health outcomes and interventions; and, it examined the relationship between climate services and health services. It also explored what climate services exist today that support public health services, what services are needed, and what's on the horizon. In the process, it addressed observations and data management, analysis and monitoring (surveillance), projection/prediction, and intervention.
For additional information, please contact Ed O’Lenic, Chair of the AMS Committee on Climate Services (e-mail: [email protected]), or Paul Llansó, coordinator of this CCS webinar (e-mail: [email protected])