Use Of Geosciences Data To Estimate Effects Of Extreme Heat On Human Health- Opportunities And Challenges In Infectious Disease Surveillance
Abstract
The New York State Climate and Health program aims to generate an evidence base that supports heat mitigation policies at the local and regional level. However, the lack of monitoring stations in rural areas impedes assessment of climate trends, frequency of extreme heat events and health sequelae across large jurisdictions. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) used the North American Land Data Assimilation System that combines remote sensing, in situ and model data to provide air temperatures at a 12KM grid. Statistical downscaling to 1KM data was done using MODIS data to allow for capturing local phenomenon like urban heat island effects. The enhancement in exposure fields improved accuracy and precision in estimation of health effects across the region. The documentation of immediate health effects of extreme heat included heat stress, dehydration, exacerbation of chronic disease and death. Additionally, new GIS tools were developed to assess areas of the state that are vulnerable to more long-term effects of heat including increased vulnerability to climate dependent infectious and vector borne disease. Documentation of climate anomalies and climate projections at the county and subcounty level provide an estimate of areas that would be expected to become more conducive to these infectious agents in the future under different energy scenarios. This information will be made available to local health departments using the Environmental Public Health tracking portal and County Heat-Health profiles on the NYSDOH website. These tools can be used to plan mitigation efforts and allocate resources for surveillance efforts. However, there are some unique challenges in estimating the human-health consequences of extreme heat exposures on infectious agents using routinely collected laboratory surveillance data. These include the lack of a uniform surveillance effort across the state, absence of information on specific exposure location, human activity patterns, other ecological determinants and intermediate animal hosts. A greater integration of research agendas in animal, environmental and health sciences is needed to address these issues and launch a comprehensive surveillance strategy.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMNH019..07I
- Keywords:
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- 0220 Geomedicine;
- GEOHEALTH;
- 0240 Public health;
- GEOHEALTH;
- 4313 Extreme events;
- NATURAL HAZARDS;
- 4322 Health impact;
- NATURAL HAZARDS