Climate Change: From Science to Practice

Abstract

Purpose of review: Climate change poses a significant threat to human health. Understanding how climate science can be translated into public health practice is an essential first step in enabling robust adaptation and improving resiliency to climate change.

Recent findings: Recent research highlights the importance of iterative approaches to public health adaptation to climate change, enabling uncertainties of health impacts and barriers to adaptation to be accounted for. There are still significant barriers to adaptation, which are context-specific and thus present unique challenges to public health practice. The implementation of flexible adaptation approaches, using frameworks targeted for public health, is key to ensuring robust adaptation to climate change in public health practice. The BRACE framework provides an excellent approach for health adaptation to climate change. Combining this with the insights provided and by the adaptation pathways approach allows for more deliberate accounting of long-term uncertainties. The mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into public health practice and planning is important in facilitating this approach and overcoming the significant barriers to effective adaptation. Yet, the immediate and future limits to adaptation provide clear justification for urgent and accelerated efforts to mitigate climate change.

Keywords: Adaptation pathways; BRACE; Barriers; Climate change; Public health.

Fig. 1

Adaptation pathways approach incorporating the BRACE framework at each decision point along the pathways to adaptation to the health impacts of climate change. The circular points represent the decisions points where the next stages of adaptation are implemented. The black arrows show different adaptation options that promote robust adaptation and red arrows represent maladaptive choices. The end point is successful adaptation to the health impacts of climate change, which can be achieved by a range of pathways and is informed by the implementation of the BRACE framework at each decision point [•, •]. (Sources: Adapted from Marinucci et al. [•]; and Reprinted from Wise et al. [•], with permission from Elsevier)