Charge and Empower Public Health Officials to Prepare for Climate Change (ADP Action 3)

Provide direction and authority to public health officials to increase the state's preparedness against existing and emerging infectious diseases and other health-related conditions as climate change advances. Scientists project a higher incidence of certain diseases and other health affects associated with global warming in the decades ahead. Topics requiring public health action include 1) vector borne infectious diseases, 2) heat-related injuries, and 3) respiratory illnesses. In particular, public health officials need better data/analysis for vector-borne infectious disease forecasting and an understanding of what indicators to track (e.g., weather patterns, mosquito pools, tick populations).