Insights in Public Health: Climate Change: A Public Health Challenge and Opportunity for Hawai'i.
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Hawai‘i has been at the forefront of climate change for decades beginning in the 1950s when atmospheric measurements taken atop Mauna Loa provided the first reliable indicator of key changes in global climate trends.1 Hawai‘i also has a longstanding record of innovative planning, including the establishment of the first comprehensive state land use zoning system in the United States in 1978.2 In 1984, the state Department of Planning and Economic Development was charged with assessing the potential impacts from sea level rise induced by climate change.3 Serving as the guide for the future long-range development of the State, the 1978 State Planning Act was amended in 2012 to incorporate climate adaptation into county and state actions.4 The State has championed the Hawai‘i State Green Growth and Aloha Plus Challenge Initiative, as well as adopted the Hawai‘i Climate Adaptation Initiative Act.4 Efforts are currently underway to assess climate vulnerability and advance climate adaptation planning.5 In 2014, an Interagency Climate Adaptation Committee (ICAC) comprised of representatives from across the state was established as the official body to lead statewide efforts to address climate change. The ICAC is tasked with delivering a statewide climate adaptation report that emphasizes coastal resources and sea level rise to the State Legislature by 2018.
Hawai‘i State policies and actions historically focused on mitigating the environmental impacts of climate change. More recently, the State is drawing attention to the impacts of climate change on human health. In 2015, the State convened a temporary Climate Change and Health working group (CCHWG) to work independent of ICAC to identify and plan for the impacts of climate change on population-based human health and well-being.4 The CCHWG served a critical role in facilitating dialogue with public and private sector health actors from across the state regarding emerging threats of climate change to human health. With the CCHWG concluding its efforts in Summer 2016, the outcomes are poised to integrate with on-going initiatives and advance State efforts to leverage cross-disciplinary expertise to elevate health concerns in all climate change discussions.
As in Hawai‘i, communities around the world are taking steps to understand and address the health impacts resulting from climate change. Evidence at the global, national, and regional scales indicates that the impacts to health due to climate change will be generally adverse. However, research of the specific local level health impacts of climate change is in its nascence, meaning that policy makers striving to take action must often draw from macro level findings in order to design local level actions. Recognizing this limitation in the state of scientific research, this article seeks to contribute to the local level dialogue on these issues. Specifically, this article explores the connections between climate change, planning, and public health with a focus on implications for Hawai‘i.
Source: PubMed
Author: Samantha W Hudson
Institution: Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2517842584