Join Antioch University New England’s Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience for a series of online courses focused on the fundamentals of climate change resilience.
Climate Impacts: Public Health (ES-5750)
Delivery: Online
Dates: January 26 – February 22, 2020
Online Attendance: No set times are required for online attendance. Students may complete the assignments at their own pace and schedule within each week. Students will have the opportunity to interface with experts in the field of climate change when they present as guest speakers. However, students may watch video recordings of the guests if they can not attend the live online presentations.
Instructors: Christa Daniels, PhD, cdaniels1@antioch.edu
Credits: 1 credit
Registration deadline: January 21, 2020
Burning fossil fuels and our changing climate have a significant impact on public health. Existing health threats will intensify, and new health threats will emerge. In addition, climate change has the worst effects on individuals already lacking health equity. Public health impacts include increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease, injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events, changes in food supply and access, along with water-borne and other infectious diseases. Climate change negatively impacts mental health as well. This can be through psychological trauma cased by personal injury, injury or death of a loved one, damage to or loss of property and pets, and disruption from the loss of livelihood.
This course will focus on how to leverage existing public health infrastructure to build climate resilience and engage and serve front line communities that are most vulnerable. Participants will learn about the various climate impacts that directly and indirectly affect public health, be familiar with the steps necessary to conduct a public health climate impact assessment, and how climate solutions can achieve ambitious health targets through win-win strategies that promote climate justice, health and health equity, resilience, and a sustainable economy.