Hosted by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute

Climate change is altering our weather patterns and causing sea level rise. The health impacts of a changing climate are not, and will not be, shared equally across the world. The severity of future health risks will be determined by the impact climate change has on different populations and regions, and their capacity to cope with these impacts.

Key climate change-related risks include deaths and injuries from extreme events, such as heatwaves, storms, and floods; and indirect effects such as the increase risks of infectious diseases, food insecurity and malnutrition, and diseases associated with exposure to air pollutants. There are also less obvious impacts from loss of livelihoods and conflicts over resources and migration to consider.

As the global warming increases so do the risks, with unpredictable results if certain thresholds are crossed. Looking forward, we need to urgently invest in adaptation and mitigation to reduce current impacts and future risks in an increasingly warming world.

Kristie L. Ebi (Ph.D., MPH) has been conducting research and practice on the health risks of climate variability and change for nearly 25 years, focusing on understanding sources of vulnerability; estimating current impacts and future health risks; designing adaptation policies and measures to reduce the risks of climate change in multi-stressor environments; and estimating the health co-benefits of mitigation policies.

She has supported multiple countries in Central America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific in assessing their vulnerability and implementing adaptation measures. She also co-chairs the International Committee On New Integrated Climate change Scenarios (ICONICS), managing the process of developing the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways.

She has been an author on multiple national and international climate change assessments. She has more than 200 publications and has edited fours books on aspects of climate change.

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