The Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment (MARA) Health Working Group is examining current and future climate-health relationships within the region. Our first step was to establish the baseline health conditions in the region. Our next step is to investigate known and hypothesized relationships between climate and specific health risks. We will complete our assessment by conducting "what-if" projections for specific health risks due to climatic changes in our region.
The baseline health assessment is a comprehensive compilation of existing health statistics and demographic data in the region. Our assessment includes mortality, morbidity, and health care provider information. The assessment focuses on county level data and, time permitting, we will develop sub-regional and regional assessments. Key objectives are to establish the current health status of the population, the availability of health services, and the relative importance of different health risks. To our knowledge, this assessment will be a first of its type and is potentially useful for examining a range of regional health related issues.
In the second component, we turn our attention to direct and indirect relationships between climate and health. Examples of direct relationships are the effects of heat waves, hurricanes, and floods on morbidity and mortality from such health risks as heat stress and drowning. Indirect relationships include the effects of climate on vectors that cause disease.
The third part of our assessment leads to our primary product, a document that explores "what- if" cases. For future climate scenarios, we will identify how climate change may impact health risks given plausible changes in the region's population, economy, and health services. Our assessment will also consider public and/or private adaptations that may reduce disease risks. Because of the time limitations, we focus on only a limited number of health risks within the Mid-Atlantic region.