Climate change is having direct and indirect impacts on the health of people. More extreme weather events, heat waves, spread of infectious diseases and detrimental impacts on air and water quality are having impacts on our health.

Research is underway to assess those most susceptible to climate change.

Researchers are working to:

• Identify and characterize communities and people at greatest risk to climate change and air pollution.
• Assess the individual and synergistic impacts of climate change and air quality on human health.
• Develop approaches to assess the likelihood and effects of extreme events on human health.
• Identify potential societal and behavioral responses to human health risks from climate change.

Related Resources

• Clean Cookstove Research
• Climate Impacts on Human Health
• National Climate Assessment - EPA participates in the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Sustained Assessment Working Group, and contributes to the USGCRP’s development of the National Climate Assessment. The fourth National Climate Assessment was published in November 2018.
• Research on Health and Environmental Effects of Air Quality
• The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment  - 2016 report from the U.S.Global Change Research Program, developed by 100 scientists across 7 agencies, including EPA