On April 4, 2016, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report titled The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment.
This assessment significantly advances what we know about the impacts of climate change on public health and the confidence with which we know it. It provides public health decision-makers at every level of government with more definitive and, where possible, quantitative assessments of the national burden of health impacts projected under climate change.
The report concludes that climate change is a significant threat to the health of the American people, exacerbating existing health threats and creating new challenges.
Institute Activities
NCICS staff, along with colleagues from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), played pivotal roles in the development of this report, serving as authors and providing editorial, graphics, web development, and data expertise:
Report Authors
Four Institute staff members served as authors on the report, joining a team of more than 100 experts.
Jesse Bell, an NCICS research scholar who also works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on projects related to climate and health, was a lead author on the Impacts of Extreme Events on Human Health chapter of the assessment.NCICS colleagues Carl Schreck III and Jennifer Runkle served as contributing authors on that same chapter. Kenneth Kunkel served as a contributing author on the Introduction: Climate Change and Human Health chapter and the Modeling Future Climate Impacts on Human Health appendix.
Assessment Development and Production
Building on experience gained through supporting the development of the Third National Climate Assessment, NCICS staff working as part of NCEI’s Assessments Technical Support Unit provided a range of expertise that was essential to the development and delivery of the climate and health assessment. Contributions included:
- Project management
- Science editing and copyediting
- Graphic design
- Web design, development, and delivery
- Software engineering
- Data and metadata management, helping ensure openness and transparency.
To view the full report, visit the assessment’s interactive website at health2016.globalchange.gov.
For a synopsis of the key findings from the assessment, download the Executive Summary.
You can also view a video of the White House announcement of the report: