Abstract
The environmental effects of climate change are greatest in the northern latitudes. There is a need for epidemiological investigations to assess the health impacts of climate change on the health of residents of the circumpolar north. This study employed a participatory, community-based surveillance system to collect repeated observations of environmental conditions and syndromic health outcomes in sentinel communities across three ecologically distinct regions of Alaska. The study revealed that unintentional injury was significantly more likely in months when respondents reported unseasonable environmental conditions, and particularly so when they changed travel plans as a consequence of those conditions. The study also found that incidence of respiratory syndromes, such as pollen allergies and asthma, were significantly higher during months when unseasonable environmental conditions were observed. We conclude that unseasonable environmental conditions likely associated with climate change are having adverse effects on the health of circumpolar northern populations.
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Highlights
1. Community-based surveillance can provide actionable epidemiologic data in remote regions.
2. Injury and cold-related morbidity and mortality are much more likely in northern communities during months in which unseasonable environmental conditions are reported.
3. Community residents attribute higher rates of injury and cold-related morbidity and mortality to reduced ice thickness and hazardous travel associated with unseasonably warm conditions and severe storms in winter months.
4. Community residents attribute higher rates of respiratory illness to smoke from wildfires, dust from dry roads and riverbeds, and pollen associated with unseasonably warm and dry conditions in the summer months.
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Driscoll, D.L., Mitchell, E., Barker, R. et al. Assessing the health effects of climate change in Alaska with community-based surveillance. Climatic Change 137, 455–466 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1687-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1687-0