Abstract: Climate change is altering the mean and variability of weather variables and is causing sea-level rise. Carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change, also is causing ocean acidification and reducing the nutritional quality of major cereal crops. Future health risks will be determined by the interaction of the hazards created by a changing climate with the populations and regions exposed to those changes, and the sensitivity and capacity of those so exposed to prepare for and effectively manage changes in the magnitude and pattern of exposure. That is, interactions between climate change and demographic, socioeconomic, and other changes will determine the burden of climate-sensitive health outcomes. Key climate change-related risks include deaths and injuries from extreme events (e.g., heat waves, storms, and floods). Indirect effects include increased risks of infectious diseases (including food-, water-, and vector-borne), food insecurity and malnutrition, and diffuse health impacts from loss of livelihoods and conflicts over resources and migration. Most risks are projected to increase with each additional unit of warming. At higher degrees of warming, thresholds may be crossed that could result in nonlinear responses.

Kristie L. Ebi (University of Washington) will present in the
2022 Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge Seminar Series:

• Most Mondays, Spring Semester 2022, 2:45-4:00pm
• Available via Zoom (ID: 953 9733 0144; Passcode: 024210)
   

This university-wide seminar series is open to the public, and provides important views on the critical issue of climate change, drawing from many perspectives and disciplines. Experts from Cornell University and beyond present an overview of the science of climate change and climate change models, the implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and food systems, and provide important economic, ethical, and policy insights on the issue. The seminar is being organized and sponsored by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.