Research Tools: New Climate Change and Human Health Glossary Launched 

From the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)/National Institutes of Health (NIH):

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has launched the Climate Change and Human Health Glossary, an online, searchable database of terms relevant to the science of climate change and its effects on human health. The tool is part of NIEHS’s ongoing efforts to improve global understanding of climate change health impacts and to encourage data sharing among researchers and others. It was developed by a team of climate change and health subject matter experts across multiple federal agencies.

Climate change impacts health of people across the world. Effective communication—including exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge, and data—is critical to addressing public health issues around climate change.  The capacity to successfully share research findings, establish collaborations, and develop interventions is vital to protecting human lives globally. This new Glossary aims to standardize language and the use of terminology to increase understanding and awareness, as well as build trust in science and policy information on the health impacts from climate change.

 Features of the glossary include basic definitions, use of the term in the climate change context, categorization by usage and concepts, and connection to related terms. This free, online resource is available to anyone, including through a mobile version, will be useful to everyone from researchers to students to policy makers to communities. The Glossary will be updated semi-annually to keep pace with the dynamic, multidisciplinary activity in research and policy on climate change and health.

The Glossary is part of a suite of resources developed by NIEHS to support research on climate change and human health that includes the Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal. The Lit Portal is an online, curated database of over 19,000 global peer-reviewed research and policy reports that are highly relevant to understanding the impacts we face from climate change and how we might work to prevent and respond to them.

Direct to  Climate Change and Human Health Glossary

Filed under: Data Files, News, Reports