Climate change might impact health through temperature changes, extreme weather events, air pollution, as well as through exacerbations of food shortages and vector- food- and water-borne diseases. Moreover, climate change might also impact health through the effects of human migration and socioeconomic disruption. The authors of a recently published paper aimed to develop a list of key human health indicators for quantifying the health impacts of climate change in Canada. The paper is available to download for free (pdf and html)
A literature review was conducted, which identified 496 articles and 77 health indicators. After evaluation of these indicators using chosen criteria, eight of them were selected as the best for use:
1. Excess daily all-cause mortality due to heat
2. Premature deaths due to air pollution
3. Preventable deaths from climate change
4. Disability-adjusted life years lost from climate change
5. Daily all cause mortality
6. Daily non-accidental mortality
7. West Nile Disease incidence
8. Lyme borreliosis incidence
The authors conclude that there is a need for further data and research related to health effect quantification in the area of climate change.
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This study was conducted by June J Cheng and Peter Berry