Four Twenty Seven Newsletter for February 11, 2016

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  • by BPC Staff
  • on February 11, 2016
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The Nexus of Climate and Human Health

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From the Desk of Emilie

Climate change has major impacts on human health. From heat waves to floods, from poor air quality to the spread of vector-borne disease like Zika, many climate hazards translate directly into measurable negative effects on human quality of life.

Our team has been working with key healthcare actors to help them identify how climate change could affect their ability to serve their patients and communities and better prepare. Learn more on how we help solve some of humanity’s most pressing challenges in this month’s newsletter on the nexus of climate and human health.

Emilie Mazzacurati, Founder and CEO

Four Twenty Seven Wins 2015 Climate Change Business Journal Award

We are honored to announce two of our projects on climate change and human health won the CCBJ’s 2015 Business Achievement Awards for Project Merit: Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience.
The projects include a web-based Heat Vulnerability application that empowers health professionals to understand and communicate how heat and humidity will affect the most vulnerable populations in the U.S., and the Resilient Hospital Dashboard that empowers hospital administrators to assess risks to their facilities, to their patients and to their communities.

California: Preparing Public Health Officials for Climate Change 

hospital image

Four Twenty Seven was recently awarded a contract from the State of California to develop a decision-support tool for public health officials. Working closely with state and county public health agencies across California, and with the expert support from our partners from the Public Health Institute, Argos Analytics, and HabitatSeven, we will develop a tool that enables better preparedness and response to heat health events in communities across California.

The project is part of the California Fourth Climate Change Assessment, a statewide effort to provide critical additional information to support decisions that will safeguard the people, economy and resources of California.

Preparing Hospitals for Climate Change: the Resilient Hospital Dashboard

Resilient Hospital Dashboard

A busy medical ward is the last place you want the lights to go out in the event of a hurricane, flood or extreme weather event. These are also the conditions that can drive surges of patients to emergency rooms for treatment at a rate that can quickly outpace the hospitals capacity to react. However, most hospitals have yet to integrate local climate change projections into their risk management and planning processes.

To support hospital resilience, and as part of our commitment to the White House Climate Data Initiative, our team has created the Resilient Hospital Dashboard. This analytical, interactive application is designed to help hospitals understand their vulnerability so they can become more resilient and continue to provide high-quality care to their patients.

Insights In Resilience: The Nexus of Climate Change and Human Health

The healthcare sector is often the first to witness the impacts of poor air quality, extreme weather patterns and other climate related hazards on the health of their community.

We asked our director of research, Nik Steinberg, to present his work to inform the healthcare industry about the effects of climate change and the trends he is observing in how healthcare professionals approach climate change.

Climate Change and the Zika Virus

Zika Virus is in the news, and the media and scientists alike are asking about the role climate change will play in the spread of the disease. This article from Vox, Zika virus, explained in 6 charts and maps, breaks down the virus through visuals, citing evidence from the CDC and research from the University of Arizona.

The disease is having profound health impacts in Brazil. Eric Holthaus, of Slate puts the implications of climate change and Zika in the context of global equity, he writes: “Zika is heartbreaking because it’s hitting communities in Brazil while they’re down. It’s taking the most precious things from people who already have very little. That’s also the main tragedy of climate change: It was caused by us, in relatively wealthier countries, but we don’t really have to pay for the worst of it.” 

[http://]Doctors Call for Action on Climate

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement and report on Global Climate Changeand Children’s Health and the need to act on climate to protect the health of our children and grandchildren.

Learn how we are working to support health care professionals with our award winning Heat Vulnerability Maps.

Resources: Understanding the Health Impacts of Climate Change

Greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health by affecting local air quality. Respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental diseases have all been tied to climate change or air pollution linked to climate change.

Climate change has also been linked to a rise in extreme weather disasters, as well as war and displacement, both of which often result in morbidity and physical and mental injury. Climate Nexus has provided a compilation of theincreasing awareness in the medical community of the risks of climate change.

What we’re Reading- Cancer and Climate Change

NASA climatologist Piers Sellers was recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Despite the diagnosis Piers is going to work on climate change solutions because he is “hopeful for our planets future.”

“This diagnosis puts me in an interesting position. I’ve spent much of my professional life thinking about the science of climate change, which is best viewed through a multidecadal lens. At some level I was sure that, even at my present age of 60, I would live to see the most critical part of the problem, and its possible solutions, play out in my lifetime. Now that my personal horizon has been steeply foreshortened, I was forced to decide how to spend my remaining time. Was continuing to think about climate change worth the bother?” 

Continue Reading Piers’ Cancer and Climate Change in the NY Times.

Catch us at these events

Join our team in the field at these upcoming events

March 8-10, 2016 – Climate Leadership Conference, Seattle, WA – Emilie will present on the Business Case for Resilience Investing.
April 3-6, 2016 – The Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) 2016 Conference, San Diego, CA – Aleka will discuss how cities are tackling the challenge of sea level rise.
April 4-6, 2016 – Northeast Climate Change Preparedness Conference, Baltimore, MD
May 10-13Adaptation Futures, Rotterdam, NL – Yoon will be available to discuss the poster on her forthcoming article in Climate and Development on USAID’s approach to National Adaptation Planning.
May 17-19 – Clean Med, Dallas, TX – Aleka will present our work on climate health analytics and our Resilient Hospitals pilot tool.
May 23-26 – The Sustainable Leadership Purchasing Council Summit, Washington, DC – Emilie will teach the ACCO pre-conference workshop on climate risk in the supply chain.
Sept 7-8, 2016 – California Adaptation Forum, Long Beach, CA
Sept 12-14, 2016Carolinas Climate Resilience Conference, Charlotte, NC

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