The Metadata Access Tool for Climate and Health: a new resource for assessing health impacts of climate change

The need for health information resources to support climate change adaptation and mitigation decisions is growing, both in the United States and around the world, as the manifestations of climate change become more evident and widespread. In many instances, these information resources are not specific to a changing climate, but have either been developed or are highly relevant for addressing health issues related to existing climate variability and weather extremes. To help address this need, the Interagency Cross-Cutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health, part of the US Global Change Research Program, has developed the Metadata Access Tool for Climate and Health (MATCH). MATCH is a gateway to relevant information that can be used to solve public health problems, support research, enable scientific collaboration in a One Health approach, and promote good data stewardship to enhance the quality and application of climate and health research. It is a searchable clearinghouse of publicly available Federal metadata and links for datasets and tools. MATCH includes monitoring and surveillance data sets, early warning systems, and tools for characterizing the health impacts of global climate change. Examples of relevant databases include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Environmental Public Health Tracking System and NOAA's National Climate Data Center's national and state temperature and precipitation data. This presentation will introduce the audience to this new web-based portal and describe some of its potential applications.