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CONFERENCE REPORT: EMERGING PUBLIC HEALTH THREATS AND THE ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
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Global warming could have important consequences for human health, ranging from a higher incidence of heat stress and a worsening of air quality to an increase in potential risks of infectious diseases. But many unanswered questions remain about how serious those impacts are likely to be, which people will be affected, and what should be done to reduce the vulnerability of our society and others to the health effects of climate change. We are just beginning to understand the potential risks, said Joel Scheraga, Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Global Change Research Program. Scheraga served as chief moderator of an EPA-sponsored conference on climate change and public health, held March 11- 12, 1998, in Atlanta. The goal of the conference was to foster a balanced dialogue on the potential health impacts. It is imperative to convey not just what we know, but how well we know it and what we don't know, Scheraga said.