Climate Change and Health

Our changing climate is affecting our health.

Everyone faces risks from the health impacts of our evolving climate, which has been termed by the World Health Organization as the greatest health threat of the 21st century. Health threats from our changing climate range from extreme weather that causes disasters, to worsening air quality, to threats to food and water quality and quantity, to stress and anxiety that affects our mental health.

Though all of us will be impacted, not everyone is equally at risk. Marginalized communities that have experienced historical and current disinvestment and have inadequate health and economic infrastructure are the least prepared to protect people from the health impacts of our changing climate.

Accelerating Capacity, Preparedness and Resilience to Address the Health Effects of Our Changing Climate

The CDC Foundation is centering health in the conversations around our changing climate as we work with partners to accelerate the nation’s preparedness. The CDC Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health, academic, business and community leadership across the country are working together to support readiness strategies that protect health. Our goal is to support communities to continue taking an active role in leading their own preparedness efforts and community sustainability plans. This way, they will address the health effects of our changing climate using culturally appropriate tools and resources tailored to their community's specific characteristics and needs.

Environmental justice and health equity principles serve as cornerstones to this work, with voices of those most disproportionately impacted by our changing climate guiding us.

LEADING A NATIONAL COMMUNITY-BASED RESPONSE

The CDC Foundation is addressing the effects of our changing climate on health by:

Building community preparedness

Communities across America—including those in coastal and rural agricultural areas, urban heat islands, and communities of color—are under-resourced and under-prepared to address the health effects resulting from our changing climate. Support for communities as they develop and implement evidence-based climate health strategies is critical to prevent and respond to local health effects. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 325 community-based organizations joined the CDC Foundation in identifying public health priorities and providing effective local responses. The CDC Foundation is providing a similar approach to communities as we address the local health impacts of our evolving climate. We work hand-in-hand to offer evidenced-based approaches to support grantees as well as guidance on implementing the CDC’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework.

Developing a national climate health workforce

In response to COVID-19, the CDC Foundation helped to develop the nation’s public health workforce by hiring, deploying and managing more than 4,000 frontline staff assigned to local health departments and communities in every U.S. state and territory. Building on this experience, we aim to bolster local capacity and train a cadre of public health professionals to recognize and respond to local climate-related health threats.

Activating young leaders

The CDC Foundation is activating young adults and youth-focused organizations to raise awareness of climate health impacts and help communities take steps to prepare for and mitigate the effects. We are supporting young leaders’ actionable and scalable solutions to accelerate the capacity, preparedness and sustainability of communities across the country. The CDC Foundation’s Youth Council on Climate and Health launched in June 2023 to help inform our climate-related efforts. We are also supporting several summer internships focused on climate and health activities. Our Take Action on Climate and Health portal also provides a platform for the passion, ideas and enthusiasm of today’s young adult leaders and innovators, raising awareness about the effects of climate on health.

Communicating the health impacts of climate change

To be informed and take effective action, we need accurate, scientifically-based information on the health impacts of our changing climate. By partnering with social marketing firms, the CDC Foundation aims to develop, coordinate and share critical communications content and resources to share local knowledge about climate health and support local efforts to take action. Such resources would target environmental health practitioners, clinicians, people in communities most affected by the health effects of our changing climate and the general public. We aim to provide evidence-based information they can use to share best practices, provide examples of how communities are adapting and increase public awareness of the connection between our changing climate and health.

Developing cross-sector partnerships with diverse health organizations

The CDC Foundation is working to develop cross-sector partnerships, strategies and tools to increase the U.S. healthcare system’s ability to respond to the health effects of our changing climate. Through these partnerships, we aim to build a resource bank of case studies and tools that healthcare providers, policymakers, educators, and organizations supporting communities can use to recognize and respond to social and environmental determinants of health.

Amplifying the connection between food insecurity, water and a changing climate

Through CDC Foundation programs and community preparedness grants, we will highlight the connection between a changing climate and threats to water, food and nutrition security. Engagement could include providing climate, nutrition security and health-related mentorship experiences for youth and community members, or community-based organization engagement in the CDC Foundation’s Hunger, Nutrition and Health Action Collaborative for a more systems-level approach to nutrition security. The CDC’s climate and health program will also lend its experience working on nutrition security related projects, providing technical assistance and support.

THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH

Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health―clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.
Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
The direct damage costs to health is estimated to be between USD $2-4 billion per year by 2030 (excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation).
Areas with weak health infrastructure―mostly in developing countries―will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.

Source: WHO, Oct. 2021

Our Work In Action

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How Does Climate Change Affect Health?

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

The CDC Foundation is actively seeking partners to join with us to make an impact. Help us move health to the forefront of the conversation around climate change and help people understand the risks to their wellbeing and inspire action. Learn more: Contact Advancement at the CDC Foundation: advancement@cdcfoundation.org, 404.653.0790.

If you would like to have an immediate impact, you can give today to help us accelerate our nation's capacity, preparedness and resilience against the health impacts of climate change. Donate Now