Climate Change and Health: A Free Online Course

In this MOOC, IPPC authors & experts from 10 countries answer the following questions: Which diseases will increase? Which populations are vulnerable? What can the world do to limit the impact of climate change on health? What policies are needed?

We all have our children’s and our own health as a top priority, so why is health not a more prominent topic in the debate on climate change and its impacts? With this MOOC, we want to provide state-of-the art evidence of the link between climate change and the health of populations.

This course will be of particular interest to health professionals, teachers, journalists, and people working in meteorology and climate sciences.

Requirements

The course does not require any knowledge about the climate system, climate change or health.

Climate Change and Health Course Content

You will become familiar with the nature of health impacts worldwide, best practices from around the world in adaptation strategies and the promotion of health co-benefits. You will analyse your country as a case study throughout the course and share this work with other course participants on our country-specific platforms. You will understand the limits and strengths of your own country’s climate adaptation plan. Hence you will be able to engage national and local policy makers to improve health protection from climate change in your country. Interviews with national policy-makers will be part of the course.

Chapter 1: What is climate change and how can it affect health?
Chapter 2: What health effects do we expect?
Chapter 3: Reducing emissions – in health terms: prevention
Chapter 4: The good news: doing something to reduce emissions is good for your health
Chapter 5: Adapting to the effects of already occurring climate change – “therapy”
Outlook: A climate friendly world is healthier, more equitable, sustainable and fun