As precipitation increases with global warming, excess runoff can bring viruses and bacteria into waterways and make people sick. With a $900,000 grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Jonathan Patz (2005) is co-leading a study about how floods affect health.
Evidence is growing that climate change is already impacting human health and threatening lives with flooding, drought, and fires as temperatures increase. Legislation to reduce these effects is being overshadowed by the health care debate, but addressing climate change now will generate health care savings, says Karen Holl (2008). Read her op-ed in the