What’s New

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Climate & Health News

February 2, 2024 CDC’s Climate and Health Program worked with the CDC Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago to create a climate and health course titled “Climate and Health: A Training for Health Department Personnel.” The course includes sections on climate and health basics, integrating climate and health into health department activities, and tools and examples to help health departments build climate resilience. The training also provides resources for health department personnel to use after completing the training.

June 1, 2023 The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), with support from the Climate and Health Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has awarded Franklin County Public Health in Ohio, San Juan Basin Public Health in Colorado, Tennessee Public Health Association, and a partnership between the Town of Natick and the City of Framingham in Massachusetts with $20,000 each to supplement ongoing climate change and health adaptation initiatives at the local level. Three of the four grant recipients serve small or rural jurisdictions. Learn more here.

November 30, 2022 Because the health impacts of climate change are far reaching and intersect with a diverse range of public health issues, the CDC/ATSDR is committed to integrating climate and health considerations into all its work. CDC/ATSDR’s FY 2022 Strategic Framework [PDF – 3.2 MB] describes how the agency is working to enhance preparedness and response capabilities for climate-related emergencies, improve CDC/ATSDR’s climate-sensitive disease surveillance, expand the climate research evidence base, disseminate key messages to protect the public from climate-sensitive diseases, and address inherent health equity and environmental justice issues. Please take time to read our strategic framework [PDF – 3.2 MB] and share with others how CDC/ATSDR is addressing the health impacts of climate change.

October 20, 2022 Request for Applications (RFA): Climate and Health Demonstration Sites – NACCHO supports local efforts to track, prevent, and mitigate the health effects of climate change, which includes: (1) the incorporation of adaptation planning into land use, housing, and transportation design; (2) preparing communities for extreme and unusual environmental events; and (3) coordinating with local governments on all-hazards disaster planning. NACCHO also supports implementing existing policies and procedures (e.g., CDC BRACE framework) and integrating climate change into ongoing performance improvement measures (e.g., Public Health Accreditation).

To this end, NACCHO, with support from the Climate and Health Program at the CDC, intends to award up to four (4) entities for up to $20,000 each to support climate change and health adaptation initiatives at local organizations. Click here to read the RFA and apply by Monday, December 12, 2022, 11:59 PM PT. We will host an optional informational webinar for interested applicants on Thursday, October 27, 2022, from 2:00 – 2:30 PM ET. The purpose of the webinar is to answer questions about this RFA. No new information will be shared during the webinar; as such, applicants do not need to wait for the optional webinar to begin or submit an application. Register for the webinar.

September 6, 2022 Climate and Health Story Maps – CDC has published three story maps that address important climate and health issues. These story maps, provided below, address the use of green spaces to improve health and mitigate climate change, how the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiative (CRSCI) helps prevent and reduce the health effects of poor air quality, and what CRSCI grant recipients are doing to prepare for and respond to rising temperatures.

April 22, 2022 CDC’s Climate and Health Program has a new webpage on climate justice. Learn about how CDC is supporting public health departments and climate adaptation planners as they incorporate justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) principles into their climate and health efforts.

April 15, 2022 The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), with support from CDC, has awarded the Calhoun County Health Department in Illinois, GreenRoots in Massachusetts, and Public Health—Seattle-King County in Washington with $25,000 each to supplement ongoing climate change and health adaptation initiatives at the local level. Learn more here.

NEW! CDC’s Climate and Health Program is pleased to announce new climate and health cooperative agreements with the 11 recipients listed below.

California Department of Health
Maine Department of Health and Human Services
North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services
Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division
Arizona Department of Health
County of Santa Clara, Department of Public Health
Wisconsin Department of Health
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Vermont Agency of Human Services
Connecticut Department of Public Health
New York State Department of Health/Health Research, Inc.

These newly funded recipients will implement actions that enhance health equity, increase resiliency, and ensure their communities are climate-ready. They will focus on populations most vulnerable to the health effects of climate change and address social determinants of health in the context of climate change. This work will contribute to positive long-term outcomes by reducing the negative health impacts of climate change in our nation’s most vulnerable populations.

NEW! The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), with support from CDC’s Climate and Health Program, has announced the 2021 Climate and Health Adaptation Demonstration Sites. NACCHO has awarded the Clackamas County Public Health Division, OR, Franklin County Public Health, OH, and Harris County Public Health, TX, with $17,000 each to supplement ongoing climate change and health adaptation initiatives in local health departments. Additional information is available here.

NEW! CDC’s Climate and Health Program released “Heat Exposure and Cardiovascular Health: A Summary for Health Departments. [PDF – 7 MB]” This document gives an overview of our current understanding of heat exposure and its impact on cardiovascular health outcomes, an overview of the medications that may exacerbate heat-related cardiovascular illness, and a summary of the interaction between extreme heat and air pollutants and their collective impact on cardiovascular health. Additionally, this document summarizes epidemiologic evidence and identifies gaps in the peer-reviewed literature on the effectiveness of strategies and interventions to protect against heat-related cardiovascular disease and death.

NEW! CDC has created a technical guidance document titled “Evidence on the Use of Indoor Air Filtration as an Intervention for Wildfire Smoke Pollutant Exposure. [PDF – 3.61 MB]” The document summarizes the available peer-reviewed literature about the effectiveness of air filtration as an intervention to decrease exposure to wildfire smoke and protect health when sheltering indoors. It describes the different types of air filtering technology and metrics for measuring air quality and summarizes the literature on their effectiveness in protecting against the harmful air pollutants in wildfire smoke.

NEW! The CDC Foundation’s Community Capacity Assessment for Climate Health details the assessment of 21 urban jurisdictions’ capacity to prepare for and address the potential health effects of climate change, including increased heat-related illness, waterborne disease, shifts in vector-borne disease, and the physical and mental effects of extreme weather events.

NEW! CDC’s Climate and Health Program has launched a new ArcGIS StoryMap titled “Extreme Heat Adaptation: How the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiative (CRSCI) Grant Recipients are Preparing for and Responding to Increasing Temperatures.” This StoryMap showcases extreme heat adaptation strategies taken by the Climate and Health Program’s health department partners and provides tools and resources to equip communities to take action. Access the StoryMap here: https://arcg.is/rjL5r

NEW! NACCHO, with support from CDC’s Climate and Health Program, plans to award up to three entities between $16,000 and $24,000 each. This funding will supplement ongoing climate change and health adaptation initiatives in local health departments.

Applicants must submit their PDF application to Amy Chang, NACCHO’s Senior Program Analyst, at achang@naccho.org. Applications are due by 11:59 PM ET, Thursday, October 22, 2020.

Learn more and download the application below.

Download the Request for Applications (RFA) [PDF – 113 KB]
Download the application [PDF – 61 KB]

NEW! Each region of the United States experiences climate change and its impacts on health differently. The new document “Preparing for the Regional Health Impacts of Climate Change in the United States” [PDF – 4 MB] describes the various health impacts climate change will have on different regions of the United States, actions taken by the CDC Climate and Health Program’s health department partners to prepare for and respond to climate change in their communities, and relevant tools and resources.

NEW! CDC Heat & Health Tracker is launched. This first-of-its-kind, online tool is designed to help emergency and public health planners prepare for and respond to extreme heat events.

NEW! Heat-Related Deaths — United States, 2004–2018. From 2004 through 2018, an average of 700 heat-related deaths occurred in the United States annually.

NEW! Climate Change and Children’s Health (web-based course). This course teaches users about the definition of “climate change,” explains the “Greenhouse Effect,” identifies common health impacts associated with a changing climate, and more.

NEW! CDC’s Climate and Health Program, in partnership with the National Indian Health Board is
announcing three new mini-grants to Tribes as part of the Climate-Ready Tribes Initiative. These mini-grants will support the development of climate and environmental health communication materials. The three Tribes are:

Seneca Nation of Indians
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Greenville Rancheria

Each of these awardees will develop education and communications materials raising awareness of climate and health in a culturally appropriate way.

NEW! CDC’s Climate and Health Program has launched a technical report on heat response plans [PDF – 14 MB]. The document is intended to give a summary of extreme heat, the health burden of heat exposure, the impacts of climate change, and components and effectiveness of heat response plans with a focus on relevant peer-reviewed literature and existing heat response plans. Resources and examples of successful implementation and potential collaborative efforts are included.

NEW! In January 2020 the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), with support from CDC, launched an Interactive Climate Adaptation Map which showcases state and territorial health agency climate adaptation plans and resources. The map is located on ASTHO’s Climate Change webpage. To let ASTHO know about a state or territorial health agency that has completed an adaptation plan or has contributed to a multi-agency plan not represented on the map, contact Kathy Dolan.

NEW! The Kaw Nation, Pala Band of Mission Indians, and Lummi Nation have released a series of communication products as part of their 2019 projects supported by CDC’s Climate and Health Program in partnership with the National Indian Health Board (NIHB). The Kaw Nation has a series of fact sheets on air quality, extreme precipitation, rising temperatures and humidity, and vector-borne disease. The Pala Band of Mission Indians created fact sheets on drought, elevated temperatures, storms and flooding, and wildfire. Additional information about this work is available at the Climate-Ready Tribes Initiative website.

NEW! CDC’s Climate and Health Program has launched a guide to support health department staff in conducting cross-sector outreach for climate adaptation planning. Health departments have a key role to play in helping states, cities, and tribes prepare for and prevent the public health impacts of climate change. The ten sectors included in this guide can be important partners for effective climate adaptation planning: Agriculture, Emergency Response & Disaster Preparedness, Energy & Utilities, Healthcare, Meteorology & Climatology, Sustainability & Green Design, Transportation Planning Urban Planning & Land Use, Water Utilities, Sewer & Watershed Management, and Wildland Management & Forestry. The PDF describes what each sector does, how they work on climate and health, and ways health departments can consider collaborating with these sectors.

NEW! Animated video describing the Building Resistance Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework.

NEW! From 2017–2019, the National Indian Health Board worked with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (Swinomish) through the Climate Ready Tribes project which is funded by CDC’s Climate and Health Program. For the project, Swinomish adapted the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework to better reflect indigenous health definitions and priorities.

Swinomish has developed a series of online, freely accessible modules that describe why and how Swinomish modified BRACE (module 1). Swinomish has also provided an example of how the tribe used the indigenized BRACE framework in a climate and health assessment project (module 2). Other tribes may tailor the process and methods for adapting BRACE in their own communities. Read more here.

Fourth National Climate Assessment

New products

AMPLIFY webinar series

The Climate and Health Program’s AMPLIFY webinar series, facilitated by Marketing for Change, is designed to help state and local health departments more effectively communicate the health impacts of climate change in their communities.

Recent Climate & Health Publications