Global climate change and extreme weather events
Subtitle: understanding the contributions to infectious disease emergence : workshop summary
By: rapporteurs, David A. Relman ... [et al.] ; Forum on Microbial Threats, Board on Global Health, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
Contributors: Relman, David A.; Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Forum on Microbial Threats.; National Academies Press (U.S.)
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
ISBN-13: 9780309124027
Subjects: Weather -- Environmental aspects; Climatic changes -- Health aspects; Weather -- Health aspects; Communicable diseases -- Environmental aspects; Epidemics -- Environmental aspects; Weather -- Congresses; Climate -- Congresses; Communicable Diseases, Emerging -- epidemiology -- Congresses; Disease Outbreaks -- Congresses; Environmental Exposure -- adverse effects -- Congresses
Genres: Congresses
Description: Long before the germ theory of disease was described, late in the nineteenth century, humans knew that climatic conditions influence the appearance and spread of epidemic diseases. Ancient notions about the effects of weather and climate on disease remained embedded in our collective consciousness through expressions such as "cold" for rhinovirus infections, "malaria: derived from the Latin for bad air; and the common complaint of feeling "under the weather."  Today, evidence is mounting that the earth's climate is changing at a faster rate than previously appreciated, leading researchers to view the longstanding relationships between climate and disease with new urgency and from a global perspective. On December 4 and 5, 2007,  the Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop in Washington, DC to consider the possible infectious disease impacts of global climate change and extreme weather events on human, animal, and plant health, as well as their expected implications for global and national security.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.

Also issued online.