Climate Adaptation for Human Health

The world’s climate is changing, and among the most significant negative consequences is to human health. While climate change is a global health issue, its health impacts vary across geographies and populations. In this course, you will learn why taking action to plan for and adapt to climate change is necessary for protecting human health, as well as what kinds of actions are most appropriate for a particular location and population. You also will learn tools and strategies to effectively plan for and enact adaptation actions that build resilience to climate change’s negative effects.

• Welcome to Climate Adaptation for Human Health!
• This course discusses how adaptation is formally and informally defined, with detailed examples representing numerous spatial and temporal scales. The course also addresses how to use a range of vulnerability assessments to identify and prioritize opportunities for adaptation, illustrated through methodological and practical examples. The course then delves into the iterative process of adaptation activities, by focusing on the planning, implementing, and improving stages necessary for successful adaptation actions. Finally, successful strategies for adaptation practitioners are identified, focusing on explicit ways to maximize professional networks to create and sustain collaborative adaptation efforts. Throughout, the course focuses on practical examples of adaptation tools and activities that practitioners can implement in their communities.
• Introduction to Adaptation: What is Climate Adaptation?
• What does climate adaptation look like at the individual, local, regional, and national scale? Why is intentional adaptation to climate change necessary for protecting human health?
• Informing Adaptation: Collecting Data for Adaptation
• What data is available to inform actions to adapt to climate change? How can data help us understand who is most vulnerable to climate change?
• Informing Adaptation: Assessing Adaptation Readiness
• What adaptation actions are most appropriate for a particular population, and how is this assessed? Why is it important to measure “readiness” when planning for an adaptation action?
• Planning for Adaptation: Adaptation Action Plans
• Hows does the Adaptation Action Planning framework move adaptation planning ideas into action? What tools, networks, and resources are available after this course to continue engagement with the climate change and health community?
• Course Conclusion