Abstract

Climate change and global public health is a growing concern among the pulmonary care community. The Turkish Thoracic Society and the American Thoracic Society held special sessions during their 2013 annual conferences to discuss the impact of climate change on the environment and public health. These sessions are summarized in this review to illustrate the global consequences of climate change. Climate and its impact on air pollution and the relative incidence, timing and length of allergens in the atmosphere (pollen and allergen season) are presented. The influence of climate change on housing, indoor air quality and public health is discussed, along with how climate change is uniquely affecting low resource countries due to the process of desertification and its impact on water and food. The European and Caribbean perspectives of climate change on human vulnerability and adaption strategies are discussed, along with how federal and global policies might be implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change.