Energy, Environment and Water Research Center

Energy, Environment and Water Research Center

The Mediterranean Basin is already experiencing some of the early impacts of climate change including its influence on human health, via enhanced drought and stronger more frequent heat waves. The region is subject to growing population pressure in parallel with vulnerability to possible impacts of climate change that threaten society: sea level rise, insufficient water supply and water quality, drought, decreased crop yields and direct impacts on human health – effects of heat waves on the respiratory system, heat-related mortality, vector-borne diseases, etc.

There is an urgent need to better understand and thoroughly study these issues. Therefore, participants of the scientific workshop will address the looming climate-driven health challenges from their different national and disciplinary backgrounds. In particular, we will discuss: vulnerability to extremes of the hydrologic cycle, health effects of extreme heat and cold, exposure to vector-borne infectious diseases, changes in aeroallergen and allergic airway diseases, health effects of changes in air and water quality, climate change and the built environment, compounding effects of economic discrepancy and hardship on the health of Mediterranean populations in a changing climate regime.

The workshop, while focusing on the Mediterranean Basin, will consider the impacts of climate change on public health in a global context. The workshop is organized by the Cyprus Institute (CyI) and the ESF-MedCLIVAR program and will be hosted by the CyI.

Experts on climate change in the Mediterranean and Mediterranean-type climate regions and on impacts of climate variability and change on human health including climatologists, epidemiologists, public health experts, ecologists, biologists, hydrologists, as well as experts in environmental and disease modelling are invited to Cyprus to present their latest scientific results, in order to build cross-disciplinary research partnerships and to establish new international collaborations in order to study the pressing challenges posed by the changing climate on the health of Mediterranean populations.

Attendance by invitation only.

1st day and 2nd day morning: presentations by the participants
2nd day afternoon: excursion
3rd day: working groups, future scientific collaborations.

Workshop program

Organizing committee: Shlomit Paz (University of Haifa, Israel), Alexander Gershunov (Scripps, UCSD, USA), Elena Xoplaki (EEWRC, CyI, Cyprus)

For more information, contact Shlomit Paz, email shlomit [at] geo [dot] haifa [dot] ac [dot] il