Climate and Health Impacts in the National Climate Assessment (Invited Presentation)

The 3rd National Climate Assessment highlights the human health effects of climate change, finding that climate change threatens people's health in the U.S. here and now, as well as in future decades. The four key findings of the Human Health chapter provide details on a range of climate change-fueled environmental shifts that already impact health. Better understanding of the challenges climate change presents also reveals opportunities to create healthier, more secure communities that are more resilient to climate change. Two strategies provide positive action– taking steps to prepare for effects already underway, and reducing carbon emissions to limit climate change's worst effects. While the assessment provides the most comprehensive scientific foundation to date for making informed choices about where we go from here, it remains important to deepen the two-way conversation between scientists who create these kinds of assessments, and societal stakeholders who will shape collective responses to climate change – and the future our children will inherit.