Medical Challenges After Typhoon Haiyan
(L2, L4) An NPR News report on 2011 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the relief efforts that were challenged by a subsequent tropical storm. Post-disaster health impacts including WASH impacts, dehydration, and delayed infections are explored.
→ Read the Report → Teaching Tools Severe Drought in East Africa
(L1, L2, L3, L4) Africa is currently facing severe droughts and floods, food shortages, and increases in malaria due to climate change. This series of short case studies focus on Ethiopia and Rwanda and the work done by the Ethiopian and Rwandan Red Cross Societies to mitigate the impacts of floods and droughts on access to clean water and malaria cases in the two countries.
→ Read the Case Study → Teaching ToolsImpact of Hurricane Katrina(L2, L3) This documentary film produced by PBS explores the impacts of 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf coast of the United States with a focus on the political handling of the disaster.
→ Watch the Video → Teaching Tools Climate Change and Health: An Interprofessional Response
This set of nine short slide decks that can be utilized to introduce the connection between climate change and health to health professionals. They are intended to be used by instructors and programs when teaching about the connection between climate and health in existing courses.
→ Slide deckCheap, Effective Shelter for Disaster Relief(L2, L3, L4) In this TEDx talk, Michael McDaniel describes the process behind his inventive solution to the housing gap problem following natural disasters, the Exo Housing Unit. The idea quickly gained notice, and McDaniel is working alongside FEMA, the United Nations, and other groups to bring the solution to real-world situations.
→ Watch the Video→ Teaching ToolsExtreme Weather and the Climate Crisis E-BookIn this e-book, the Climate Reality Project explains how extreme weather events are influenced by climate change and offers ways that you can get involved in the fight for solutions.
→ E-Book Ecosystem Approaches to Health Teaching ManualA teaching manual with sample modules and associated activities for teaching about health and environmental change produced by COPEH-Canada.
→ Español → Français → English → Read moreClimate Variability, Vulnerability, and Natural Disasters: A Study of Zika Virus in Manabi, Ecuador Following the 2016 EarthquakeThis research article describes an emerging epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Ecuador following the 2016 earthquake, which coincided with an exceptionally strong El Niño event. Authors hypothesize that the trigger of a natural disaster during anomalous climate conditions and underlying social vulnerabilities were force multipliers contributing to a dramatic increase in ZIKV cases post-earthquake.
→ Read the ArticleClimate Information for Public Health Action With a focus on infectious disease, hydro-meteorological disasters and nutrition, the book explores why, when and how data on the historical, current and future (from days to decades) climate can be incorporated into health decision-making.
→ E-BookNatural Disasters and Human Health in the AnthropoceneThis is a sample syllabus for teaching about natural disasters in the context of planetary health for an undergraduate audience in a 10-week term. The course is open to all years and all majors or concentrations.
→ SyllabusEarth's Processes as Natural Hazards, Fall 2015Syllabus for an undergraduate course exploring the relationship between humans and Earth's processes at the University of Virginia.
→ Syllabus
Planetary Health Undergraduate Course, Spring 2017Syllabus for a discussion based undergraduate course open to first through fourth-year students across all disciplines at Harvard University.
→ Syllabus Natural Disasters and the Impacts on HealthA natural disaster is defined as an event of nature, which overwhelms local resources and threatens the function and safety of the community. Generally, disasters are the ultimate test of a community’s emergency response capability. A thoughtful and well-organized emergency strategy will be able...
→ Read the Report