Climate Change and Human Health Impacts in the United States: An Update on the Results of the U.S. National Assessment

Ebi, Kristie L.; Mills, David M.; Smith, Joel B.; Grambsch, Anne

Water-and food-borne diseases. In the HSA, Rose et al. (2001) concluded an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme precipitation events attributed to climate change would increase the risk of contamination events, which would increase the risk of waterand food-borne illnesses. Although several factors affected this result, critical elements included the increased transport of diseasecausing organisms during extreme precipitation events and limits in the existing infrastructure for conveying and treating wastewater and sewage to avoid contamination events (e.g., problems with combined sewer overflows). Critical research needs identified in the HSA included improved capacity and coordination of disease surveillance systems to accurately quantify the burden of food-and water-borne disease in the population, further evaluation of local contaminant source-receptor relationships to aid risk assessments, and identification of adaptation alternatives. As with other health outcomes assessed, a critical data gap was the need to improve regional models of climate variability and change at a spatial scale that could be incorporated into regional/national health impact models (e.g., local hydrologic models).