Climate Change, Nutrition, and Population Health

While some important risks of climate change are now reasonably well-characterized, such as potential impacts on agricultural productivity, others remain poorly understood. Chief among these are the potential impacts of climate change on human health, especially among vulnerable populations. Researchers have long been interested in climate-health linkages, but work to date has focused on a few particular pathways (e.g. climate-induced changes in vector-borne disease) while excluding other potentially critical ways in which climate might affect health, such as effects on nutrient availability or the price of food. A recent review of the literature on climate change and disease risk highlights the state of this field and the scarcity of empirical evidence. Researchers will fill this gap through a series of empirical studies that will generate compelling evidence on climate-health linkages, inform policymakers of key risks and fruitful responses, and form a foundation for broader and timely research in this intersection.