Climate and Health

By 2050 climate change will place immense strain on global healthcare systems, causing 14.5 million deaths and $12.5 trillion in economic losses (World Economic Forum); displace over 4.5 billion people (World Bank, 2023) and affect children in many different ways through heatwaves, wildfires, floods, droughts and cyclones (UNDRR).

Climate and health

Climate can affect our health directly and indirectly both in the short-term and long-term.

Climate change can impact health directly through disease and mental health issues disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities. Climate change intensifies global health risks, causing higher morbidity and mortality.

Event driven health effects

Heat and health

Flooding and disease

Flooding and mental health

Mobility

Climate change can have knock on effects resulting in increased mobility.

Seasonal social effects

Due to mobility as a result of seasonal changes, diseases can be found popping up in different and sometimes unexpected geographic locations (e.g. school holidays, religious events, seasonal holidays and seasonal labour)

Seasonal climate effects

Due to set environmental characteristics needed for certain diseases, there are seasonal effects associated with a variety of infectious diseases (e.g. dry and wet season).

Access to critical infrastructure

Due to climate change, access to critical infrastructure and basic needs may change including health care, energy, water, food.

Sources

Book - Chapter 9. Geographic Information for Planetary Health in Blanford, J.I. (2024) Geographic information, geospatial technologies and spatial data science for health. Pp376. CRC Taylor & Francis.

Book - Chapter 4. Disaster Epidemiology. Health Emergencies and Hazard Considerations: surveillance to communication in Blanford, J.I. (2024) Geographic information, geospatial technologies and spatial data science for health. Pp376. CRC Taylor & Francis.

Book - Chapter 8. Geohealth considerations for disaster risk management and resilience. In Glade, T. (ed) Civil Protection, Disaster Risk Management, and Resilience Series: Technological Innovations in Disaster Management – Concepts, Applications and Future Trends. (in prep)

Marghidan, C. P., Nairn, J., Blanford, J. I., van Aalst, M. and Mistry, M. (2025) Untangling the fragmented landscape of extreme heat services and warning systems. Environmental Research - Letter
Song, C., Atun, F., Blanford, J.I., Anthonj, C. (2025) Impact of flooding on mental and social health of older adults – A scoping review. Water Security. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468312425000045
Al-Huraibi, A., Amer, S., Blanford, J.I. (2025) Efficient allocation of vaccination centers to maximize coverage using common modes of transportation such as the bicycle. Geospatial Health
Tjaden, N., Geeraedts, F., Riezebos-Brilman, A., Kioko, C., Al Naiemi, N., Blanford, J.I., Beerlage-de Jong, N. (2024) The power of interactive maps for communicating spatio-temporal data to health professionals. Geospatial Health
Ifejube, J., Kuriakosa, S.L., Anish,T.S., van Westen, C., Blanford, J.I. (2024) Analysing the outbreaks of leptospirosis after floods in Kerala, India. International Journal of Health Geographics. 23. 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-024-00372-9
Sznajder, K., Eshak, T., Biney, A., Dodoo, N., Wang, M., Toprah, T., Blanford, J.I., Jensen, L., Dodoo, F. N-A. (2024) Adverse childhood experiences are associated with HIV risk factors in Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 19(3), 593–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2024.2354378
Marghidan, C. P., van Aalst, M., Blanford, J.I., Guigma, K., Maure, G., Pinto, I., Arrighi, J., and Marrufo, T. (2023) Assessing the spatio-temporal distribution of extreme heat events in Mozambique using the CHIRTS temperature dataset for 1983-2016. Weather & Climate Extremes. 40,100565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2023.100565
Marghidan, C. P., van Aalst, M., Blanford, J.I., Marrufo, T. and Maure, G. (2023) Extreme heat alerts and impacts across Mozambique 2016 - 2022: gathering evidence from media articles. AGILE GIScience Ser., 4, 11, https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-4-11-2023. Reproducible AGILE badge
Mahama, P. N. J., Kabo-Bah, A. T., Falchetta, G., Blanford, J. I., Yamba, E. I., Antwi-Agyei, P., Asiedu-Bekoe, F., Awuah, E., & Yieri, J. (2023). Leaving no disease behind: The roadmap to securing universal health security and what this means for the surveillance of infectious diseases in Ghana as a precedent for sub- Saharan Africa. PLoS ONE, 18(4), [e0284931]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284931
Mahama, P. N-J., Kabo-Bah, A. T. , Blanford, J. I., Yamba, E. I., & Antwi-Agyei, P. (2022). Reviewing the past, present, and future risks of pathogens in Ghana and what this means for rethinking infectious disease surveillance for Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Tropical Medicine. 4589007:18. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4589007
Blanford, J.I., N. Beerlage-de Jong, S. Schouten, A. Friedrich, V. Araujo-Soares (2022) Navigating travel in Europe during the pandemic: from mobile apps, certificates, quarantine to traffic-light system. Journal of Travel Medicine. taac006, https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taac006
Blanford, J.I. and Jolly, A. M. (2021) Public health needs GIScience (like now!), AGILE GIScience Ser., 2, 18.
Pfau, L. and Blanford J.I. (2018) Enhancing wilderness search and rescue through the use of geospatial data and technology. The Professional Geographer. 70(3):434-442
Logan, J., Jolly, A., and Blanford, J.I. (2016) The Sociospatial Network: Risk and the role of place in the transmission of infectious diseases. PLoS One 11(2):e0146915
Blanford, J.I., Bernhardt, J., Savelyev, A., Wong-Parodi, G., Carleton, A.M., Titley, D.W. and MacEachren, A.M. (2014) Tweeting and Tornadoes. 11th International ISCRAM Conference. State College, Pennsylvania, USA.
Aurit, M., Peterson, R.O., Blanford J.I. (2013) A GIS analysis of the relationship between sinkholes, dry-well complaints and groundwater pumping for frost-freeze protection of winter strawberry production in Florida. PLoS One. 8(1).
Blanford, J.I., Kumar, S., Luo, W. and MacEachren, A.M. (2012) It’s a long, long walk: accessibility to hospitals, maternity and integrated health centers in Niger. International Journal of Health Geographics. 11:24
Tomaszewski, B., Blanford, J.I., Ross, K., Pezanowski, S. & MacEachren A.M. (2011) Supporting Geographically-aware WebDocument Foraging and Sensemaking. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems.35:192-207
MacEachren A. M., Jaiswal, A., Robinson, A.C., Pezanowski, S., Savelyev, A., Mitra, P., Zhangi, X. & Blanford, J. (2011) SensePlace2: GeoTwitter Analytics Support for Situational Awareness. Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), IEEE Conference. 181-190. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6102456 See awards.
MacEachren A. M., Robinson, A.C., Jaiswal, A., Pezanowski, S., Savelyev, A., Blanford, J., & Mitra, P. (2011) July 3-8. Geo-Twitter Analytics: Applications in Crisis Management. 25th International Cartographic Conference, Paris, France.

Ebi, K. L., A. Capon, P. Berry, C. Broderick, R. de Dear, et al. (2021) Hot weather and heat extremes: health risks. The lancet, 398, 698-708.
Haines, A. & K. Ebi (2019) The imperative for climate action to protect health. New England Journal of Medicine, 380, 263-273.
World Economic Forum (2024) - https://www.weforum.org/publications/quantifying-the-impact-of-climate-change-on-human-health/

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