Following the guideline instruction attachment to complete your signature assignment topic. Be sure to include your own “pathway diagram”

GUIDELINESFOR SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT:

MAKE SURE TO LABEL EACH STEP BY NUMBER SEQUENCE FOR CLARITY.

This signature assignment is a summary of previous research on a topic on climate change. Follow the following guidelines.

Step-

1

: Choose ANY one of the following Climate Change stressor listed in Table 1. The same general topic in step-1 can be chosen by multiple groups, but the final topic focus should be different enough (see steps

2

&

3

). However, you can also develop your own topic following the same thinking process as outlined in this assignment. Must get approval of new topic from instructor before proceeding.

Table 1. List of topics.

SN#	Topic
1	Health & environmental impact from sea level rise or coastal flooding (ex: water quality, salt water intrusion, population displacement)
2	Heat related illnesses due to extreme heat events
3	Increase in extent and severity of wildfires (a) health or (b) environmental effects from particulate matter air pollution
4	Increase in severe weather 4a. effects from natural disasters 4b. water quality effects (ex: drinking water)
5	Health, environmental, and economic effects from increase in ocean acidification or ocean warming
6	Impact from vector-borne diseases from changes in precipitation patterns
7	Changes in water availability and water scarcity from increase in drought
8	Effects of flooding from extreme precipitation (disaster issues, water borne diseases)
9	Health and environmental effects from ozone related air pollution due to increase in hot sunny days
10	Health and environmental impact from changes in growing season (crop & agriculture, malnutrition)
11	Health and ecological effects from reduced snow/sea ice/permafrost
12	Increase in allergens (effects on asthma)
13	Change in mosquito ecology leading to increase in vector-borne disease e.g. Zika, dengue chikungunya, malaria, yellow fever
14	Change in rodent ecology (ex: hantavirus) leading to an change in vector-borne disease
15	Increase in hazardous algal blooms (ex: effects from acute inhalation or ingestion or risks to fishing/aquaculture)
16	Health and environmental effects from increased fossil-fuel based energy production

Step 2 (IMPORTANT) Specifically focus your topic to at least ONE public health effect or disease

Example:

· increased risk for malaria

· increase in asthma

Step 3: (IMPORTANT) Choose ONE geographic region or Country or area/location.

Example:

· Higher elevations of Mt. Kilimanjaro

· Coastal southeast US

· Bangladesh

· Sub-saharan Africa

· South Sudan

Step 4: Identify the underlying climatic CAUSE(S) of this problem and list the pathway(s) leading to this problem. See “Pathway Diagram Example” that is included as an EXAMPLE.

Pathway Diagram Example (not a perfect scoring example)

Figure 1. Pathway diagram illustrating global temperature increase’s ocean warming and its effect on methylmercury poisoning in the Pacific Islands.

Step 6: Focus on at least one public health response to addressing the problem. You could focus on both climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, or focus on climate adaptation and resilience, as it pertains to your chosen topic. It is a good idea to find online agency-based reports or additional peer-reviewed journal papers to develop your climate mitigation and adaptation strategies and understand how your population/region is resilient to changes in climate.

· Climate Change Mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Mitigation can mean using new technologies and renewable energies, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer behavior (UNEP, 2017).

· The 

UNFCCC

 defines Climate Adaptation as actions taken to help communities and ecosystems cope with changing climate condition. While the 

IPCC

 describes Climate Adaptation as adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.

Climate resilience can be generally defined as the capacity for a socio-ecological system to: (1) absorb stresses and maintain function in the face of external stresses imposed upon it by climate change and (2) adapt, reorganize, and evolve into more desirable configurations that improve the sustainability of the system, leaving it better prepared for future change impact.

4. Identify the underlying climatic CAUSE(S) of this problem and list the pathway(s) leading to this problem

5. Focus on at least ONE public health response (mitigation, adaptation, or resilience) to the problem