AMS Community Synthesis for Convergence of Health and the Geosciences

Due to climate change and the increasing concentration of human beings, human health is becoming increasing impacted by environmental changes such as extreme heat and cold snaps, flooding, wildfires, the northward migration of tropical insect-borne diseases, the urban heat island effect, the increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms, and environmental degradation due to release and/or burial of anthropogenically-generated pollutants originating from waste, manufacturing, and mining. Many of the above phenomena, whether related to climate change or the impact of people on the natural environment, especially those related to atmospheric transport and other air-borne physical and chemical processes, have imposed significant and serious impacts on human health.

These impacts are being felt not only in the US, but worldwide. To inform the public of these risks and explore the feasibility of possible solutions, the American Meteorological Society (AMS), a professional society of 13,000 atmospheric scientists; companies; and enthusiasts, will carry out an information gathering activity to collect input from its constituents on issues in climate and atmospheric processes that have impacts on human health and that are primed to be quickly addressed/resolved.

A report, summarizing the outcome of this survey, will be generated and made available to the public via publication on the American Meteorological Society website and presented to the National Science Foundation Directorate of Geosciences. Key outcomes will be the identification of atmospheric changes and processes with the highest human-health impacts resulting from pollution and climate change that are primed for immediate resolution and/or intervention.

Broader Impacts of the activity will a focus on improving our understanding and mitigation of atmospherically related environmental changes on human health.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) will conduct a broad, inclusive, results-driven survey of its constituents which consist of scientists and students as well as industry professionals in the atmospheric sciences and weather/climate prediction. This information collection exercise will gather ideas and target areas where geoscientists, communities, toxicologists, and medical professionals can come together to accelerate our nation's ability to mitigate and minimize human health impacts of changes in our environment due to climate and anthropogenic activities.

Results of the survey will be summarized to provide a roadmap for the creation of potential workable solutions to help ameliorate the impacts of the environment on human health and society. In the final report targets will be identified that can be addressed in a significant way within a 2 to 3-year timeframe. Information gathering will include online survey vehicles, virtual gatherings, one-on-one discussions with experts, and broad outreach across the atmospheric sciences.

An important aspect of the survey effort will be engagement of early career scientists and members of groups historically underrepresented in the sciences.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.