Main description:

This book is a guide to the research, findings, and discussions of US and international experts on climate change and respiratory health. Since the publication of the first edition, climate change has been increasingly acknowledged as being directly related to the prevalence and incidence of respiratory morbidity. Evidence is increasing that climate change does drive respiratory disease onset and exacerbation as a result of increased ambient and indoor air pollution, desertification, heat stress, wildfires, and the geographic and temporal spread of pollens, molds and infectious agents.

This second edition is fully updated to include the latest research by international experts on topics such as heat waves causing critical care-related diseases, climate-driven air pollution increases, and high-level ozone and ozone exposure linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and acute lower respiratory infection. Seven new chapters have also been added on extreme weather and agricultural safety in California; desert dust effects on lung health; climate policy and the EPA; California's integrated approach to air quality and climate change; integrating climate change, the environment, and sustainability themes into professional health science courses; and the role of the physician as climate advocate. This is an ideal guide for all pulmonologists and health professionals treating patients with pulmonary disease.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Consequences of Global Warming to Planetary and Human Health

2. Climate Variability and Change Data and Information for Global Public Health

3. Climate Change: Updates on Recent Global and United States Temperature Anomalies and Impacts to Water, Forests and Environmental Health

4. Eyewitness to Climate Change

5. Arctic Connections to Global Warming and Health

6. Assessing the Health Risks of Climate Change

7. Heat Waves and Rising Temperatures: Human Health Impacts and the Determinants of Vulnerability

8. Climate, Air Quality and Allergy: Emerging Methods for Detecting Linkages

9. The Human Health Co-benefits of Air Quality Improvements Associated with Climate Change Mitigation

10. Asthma, Hayfever, Pollen, & Climate Change

11. California and Climate Changes: An Update

12. Vector-borne Diseases in a Changing Climate and World

13. Dengue Fever and Climate Change

14. Climate Variability and Change: Food, Water and Societal Impacts

15. Hurricanes and Health: Vulnerability in an Age of Climate Change

16. The Impact of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Conditions on Agricultural Health and Safety in California

17. Household Air Pollution from Cookstoves: Impacts on Health and Climate

18. Biomass Fuel and Lung Diseases: An Indian Perspective

19. Climate Change and Women's Health: Risks and Opportunities

20. The impact of Climate Change on Public Health in Small Island States and Caribbean Countries

21. Global Climate Change, Desertification, and Its Consequences in Turkey and the Middle East

22. Climate change and the risk of desertification with a focus in the United States

23. Federal Programs in Climate Change and Health Research

24. Management of Climate Change Adaptation at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

25. Rules, Rulings, and Repeals: The Shifting State of Climate Policy at U.S. EPA

26. California's Integrated Approach to Air Quality and Climate Change

27. Climate Change and Public Health Interventions

28. Integrating Climate Change, the Environment, and Sustainability Themes into Professional Health Sciences Courses: A Case Study Across a University System

29. The Physician's Response to Climate Change