Now that the world’s attention is focused on climate variability and climate change adaptation, it is essential, not only for public health communities, but also for planners in central government, to understand the role climate plays in driving disease burden and impacting economic growth. Public health emerges as the final common pathway for all impacts of climate variability and climate change on individuals as well as societies.
As a contribution to this process, The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), in partnership with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH) at Columbia University initiated this two-week course in 2008. Building on the response of our 2008 - 2009 alumni, and a great demand from the climate and health community the 2010 Summer Institute on Climate Information for Public Health (SI10) was designed to engage professionals who play a key role in the operational decision-making for climate-sensitive diseases in identifying and evaluating appropriate use of climate information. SI10 was held at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Campus in Palisades, New York, between May 17th and May 28th, 2010
