Keim Mark E
National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3724, USA.
Am J Prev Med. 2008 Nov;35(5):508-16. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.022.
Global climate change will increase the probability of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, drought, wildfire, cyclones, and heavy precipitation that could cause floods and landslides. Such events create significant public health needs that can exceed local capacity to respond, resulting in excess morbidity or mortality and in the declaration of disasters. Human vulnerability to any disaster is a complex phenomenon with social, economic, health, and cultural dimensions. Vulnerability to natural disasters has two sides: the degree of exposure to dangerous hazards (susceptibility) and the capacity to cope with or recover from disaster consequences (resilience). Vulnerability reduction programs reduce susceptibility and increase resilience. Susceptibility to disasters is reduced largely by prevention and mitigation of emergencies. Emergency preparedness and response and recovery activities--including those that address climate change--increase disaster resilience. Because adaptation must occur at the community level, local public health agencies are uniquely placed to build human resilience to climate-related disasters. This article discusses the role of public health in reducing human vulnerability to climate change within the context of select examples for emergency preparedness and response.
全球气候变化将增加极端天气事件发生的可能性，这些事件包括热浪、干旱、野火、气旋以及可能引发洪水和山体滑坡的强降水。此类事件产生了重大的公共卫生需求，可能超出当地的应对能力，从而导致发病率或死亡率过高，并引发灾害声明。人类对任何灾害的脆弱性是一个具有社会、经济、健康和文化层面的复杂现象。对自然灾害的脆弱性有两个方面：遭受危险危害的程度（易感性）以及应对灾害后果或从灾害后果中恢复的能力（恢复力）。减少脆弱性的项目可降低易感性并增强恢复力。灾害易感性主要通过预防和减轻紧急情况来降低。应急准备、应对和恢复活动——包括应对气候变化的活动——可增强灾害恢复力。由于适应必须在社区层面进行，地方公共卫生机构在增强人类对气候相关灾害的恢复力方面具有独特地位。本文结合应急准备和应对的一些实例，探讨公共卫生在降低人类对气候变化的脆弱性方面所起的作用。
