Rapid Integrated Assessment of Climate Change-Induced Disease Burdens under Uncertainty

This paper contributes to research on projecting and valuing the impacts of climate change on human health by proposing and implementing a methodology that allows for rapid
integrated assessment of climate change-induced disease burdens to be used in environments characterized by cumulating uncertainty relating to data gaps and the accuracy of downscaled projections. The approach is important because the countries most vulnerable to the early effects of climate change need to start laying the foundations for their adaptation policies now, regardless of the quality of their national health and environmental data sets. 

The methodology consists of a series of specifically delineated, iterative steps that helps to identify hierarchy of variables driving the quantitative results.  The method also helps to identify key data gaps, thereby providing an important focus for subsequent research, monitoring, and data collection efforts.

The paper demonstrates this methodology by applying it to the projection and valuation of the excess disease burden in Montserrat and Saint Lucia for two climate change scenarios.
We illustrate their utility in the context of adaptation planning. This paper also highlights that investment in data collection and information systems is a “no regrets” action that should be considered integral to national and regional adaptation efforts, particularly in instances where current data do not facilitate the implementation of best practice health impact assessment methods.

Review of the Evidence Linking Climate Change to Human Health for Eight Diseases of Tropical Importance

As human societies are beginning to feel the early effects of 21st Century climate change, adaptation is becoming an increasingly important area of enquiry across a range of human sectors and activities. This is particularly true for the health sectors of tropical developing countries, as many of these countries will be some of the first to experience the impacts of global warming. Given this, it is important to understand the mechanisms through which climate change may impact on human health, and thus on the social welfare in tropical developing countries and the resourcing requirements of their health sectors. This paper reviews and synthesizes the published literature on the causal links between climate change and human disease for eight diseases of tropical importance: malaria, dengue fever, gastroenteritis, schistosomiasis, leptospirosis, ciguatera poisoning, meningococcal meningitis, and cardio-respiratory disease. 

Sustainable Use of European Seas and the role of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

This is a technical report on the state of Europe's regional seas to which I contributed

ODEMM Linkage Framework Userguide

This is a guide to which I contributed showing how the ODEMM project linked economic activities with marine ecosystems and ecosystem services

Indian summer monsoon during the last two millennia

Authors: David M. Anderson, Corinne K. Baulcomb, Alice K. DuVivier

The monsoon is a large-scale feature of the tropical atmospheric circulation, affecting people and economies in the world's most densely populated regions. Future trends due to natural variability and human-induced climate changes are uncertain. Palaeoclimate records can improve our understanding of monsoon dynamics and thereby reduce this uncertainty. Palaeoclimate records have revealed a dramatic decrease in the Asian summer monsoon since the early Holocene maximum 9 ka BP. Here we focus on the last 2 ka, where some records indicate an increasing trend in the summer monsoon. Analysing Globigerina bulloides upwelling records from the Arabian Sea, we find the weakest monsoon occurred 1500 a BP, with an increasing trend towards the present.