Engaging GLOBE Students in Data Collection for Environment and Health

“THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HUMAN HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES: A Scientific Assessment” was released in April of 2016 through the USGCRP. “The purpose of this assessment is to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based, and, where possible, quantitative estimation of observed and projected climate change related health impacts in the United States. The USGCRP Climate and Health Assessment has been developed to inform public health officials, urban and disaster response planners, decision makers, and other stakeholders within and outside of government who are interested in better understanding the risks climate change presents to human health.”

This report gives examples of Climate Impacts on Human Health. The report identifies climate drivers, exposure, health outcome, and impacts. They include Extreme Heat, Outdoor Air Quality, Flooding, Vector-Borne Infection, Water-related Infection, Food-Related Infection, and Mental Health and Well-Being. The Climate Drivers identified include: Increased temperatures, Precipitation extremes, extreme weather events, and sea level rise. The environmental context are Land-Use change, ecosystem change, Infrastructure condition, geography, and agricultural production and livestock use.

The GLOBE Program engages students internationally in the scientific process of “observing and measuring” the environment. Teachers, students, and Citizen Scientists engage in data collection through scientific protocols and apps. Local data collection added to an international database can aid in both research and documentation of changing environmental conditions that may have a dramatic impact on human health.

GLOBE Protocols will identified that can be introduced to teachers and students and a specific introduction to the “Mosquito Habitat Mapper App” that through the use of a cell phone can provide important data to local and national health officials.