Identifying climate impacts on health, today and in the future

The goal of Step 2 is to estimate the current and future burden of the identified health risks, especially for populations deemed to be especially vulnerable due to greater exposure, increased sensitivity, or limited ability to adapt. BRACE guidance states that this step can be completed using qualitative and/or quantitative methodology.

Based on available resources and capacity, practitioners will need to decide how much time and resources can be put toward this step before moving to Step 3. In some cases, an academic partner may be able to assist a public health jurisdiction with this step if the public agency lacks technical capacity. Other potential partners with technical expertise may include a NOAA Regionally Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program¹ or a local NWS weather forecasting office.²  It could be the case that one disease pathway (such as heat-related illness) can be projected, but other disease burdens are not as easy or straightforward to project. Don’t let this impede progress: acknowledge any limitations and continue to move forward in the framework.