by Viviane Silva, Co-Chair, Third Conference on Environment and Health
To address the needs related to reducing climate-weather-water related public health risks, we’ve organized a panel session entitled “Integration of Climate-Weather-Water and Health Information: Strengthening Partnerships and Enhancing Services” during the Third Conference on Environment and Health at the AMS 2012 in New Orleans (Monday 23 January, 4 p.m., Room 333). Taking part in the discussion will be a distinguished group of experts, including: Dr. Jack Hayes, director of the National Weather Service; Dr. Christopher Portier, director of the National Center for Environmental and Health for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry – CDC; Dr. John Balbus, senior advisor for Public Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences – NIH; and Dr. John Haynes, NASA, Health and Air Quality Applications Program Manager. This is your chance to participate as well.
The topics will include research and data needs, opportunities for shared efforts, and emerging services to support decision makers in the health community. The presenters plan to focus on
- the changing landscape of society’s need for integrated information to enhance decision making and each agency contribution to this regarding climate, weather, and water information to predict, prevent, or manage public health risks;
- how CDC, NIH, NOAA, and NASA will work collaboratively with other agencies to address national, state, local, and tribal needs;
- how these agencies will support open exchange of data and delivery of information and decision tools; and
- current efforts to facilitate research and development of services.
The presentations are designed to foster a conversation with the audience. Some of the questions the presenters plan to ask are: What integrated weather/water/climate/health information do you need? What challenges do you face when trying to access data that you need? What would you envision being included in a related Decision Support System or Health Early Warning System? Considering the current fiscal environment, what integrated information would you consider to be the highest priority?
We’re looking for more questions from you. Post your questions as comments to this entry on The Front Page and we’ll make sure
they will be answered during the panel discussion.
The current NWS heat warning system does not address issues such as periods of prolonged high temperatures, and early spring periods of high temperatures which cause a large proportion of heat illness medical visits. Since heat is one of the certain impacts of climate change, how does the NWS anticipate adapting the current heat warning system?