Climate Health: Extreme Weather Events and Compounding Disasters
Thursday, October 27, 2022 | Virtual | 3:30 PM EDT
Climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of climate-related extreme weather events around the globe, from hurricanes, to droughts, heat waves, wildfires and more. From the record heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, which resulted in hundreds of casualties, to wildfire seasons that now extend far beyond the summer months, inflicting poor air quality for long periods of time, the impacts to human health can no longer be ignored, and will only continue to grow.
This panel will address how extreme weather events impact human health, in both the immediate aftermath as well as on long-term time scales, and explore potential strategies to prevent the overwhelming of healthcare systems. In addition, we will discuss how the frequency and intensity of these events create compounding impacts on individuals and communities, as hazards increasingly strike in close succession or even simultaneously in nearby areas. We will consider how risk assessment tools, early warning systems and mitigation plans should take multiple hazards and their interdependent relationships into account, to better prepare for the future.
The discussion will center around real-world events as examples, explore inequitable impacts and propose next steps for improving preparedness and health equity in this context.
Immediately following the event all audiences are invited to join our Virtual Networking Lounge where they can speak directly with the panelists and with each other in small groups to continue these conversations and make new connections to further their work, and the field.