establishing new connections with researchers from developing nations
This strategic goal information goes here, with contributions from the Advanced Study Program, The Center for Capacity Building, and the Institute for the Study of Society and Environment.
Many important earth system processes are global in scale and require cooperation among nations and research institutions from many countries. SERE's education and outreach activities, including the Center for Capacity Building, are helping to examine the interconnections between environmental climate, water, and weather factors, economic development, and climate-sensitive human activities. Some examples of these activities are described below. More information is also available in several other priority areas in this report.
Dry Season Transmission of Dengue Fever in San Juan, Puerto Rico
The full title of this project is "An Investigation of Bio-Eco-Social Parameters Contributing to Dengue Outbreaks during the Dry Season in San Juan, Puerto Rico." This also contributes to NCAR Goal 3, Priority 3, "Improving public awareness and understanding."
This research investigated two communities (one with documented dengue transmission and one without) in an urban area in Puerto Rico during the dry season (March and April 2007) in order to test the hypothesis that the presence of permanent bodies of water (e.g., septic tanks, large water storage tanks, wells) sustain Aedes aegypti productivity and dengue transmission.
The researchers undertook an evaluation of immature mosquitoes through pupal surveys, adult captures for viral detection, and ecological and social assessment to explain differences between the two communities. The research questions addressed include whether dengue virus persistence in the area might be facilitated by the presence of permanent bodies of water providing aquatic habitats for Aedes aegypti, defining distinguishing ecological and social characteristics of the surrounding areas, and whether control of identified habitats during the dry season would interrupt dengue virus prevalence and its amplification during the rainy season.
Field work conducted in March and April 2007: analysis is ongoing. This project will be expanded to include extensive mosquito surveillance in the targeted neighborhoods, development of a water budget to investigate water capacity of containers used as breeding sites for mosquitos, and qualitative research to explore human ecological differences between the two study neighborhoods.
Research team:
Dr. Mary Hayden, ASP Postdoctoral Fellow and NCAR Visiting Scientist
Dr. Roberto Barrera, Chief of Ecology and Entomology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dengue Branch, San Juan, Puerto Rico
This research is funded by NSF through its support of SERE and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene – Gorgas Memorial Institute Award.
ADAPTE: Adapting to Health Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Extremes in Latin American Cities
Financed by IAI, the project ADptation to the health impacts of Air Pollution and climaTe Extremes in Latin American cities (ADAPTE) seeks to investigate a crucial and not yet fully explored problem: the independent and combined effects of exposure to weather related stresses and air pollution and human vulnerability to urban health in four Latin American cities: Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mexico City, and Santiago Chile. The project will explore how patterns in human mortality/morbidity and vulnerability vary spatially, and the human and natural factors accounting for this differential distribution within the cities.
O. Wilhelmi and P. Romero Lankao will be working on this IAI-funded project. This project seeks to investigate a crucial and not yet fully explored problem: the independent and combined effects of exposure to weather related stresses and air pollution and human vulnerability to urban health in four Latin American cities ( Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mexico City, and Santiago Chile). The project will explore how patterns in human mortality/morbidity and vulnerability vary spatially, and the human and natural factors accounting for this differential distribution within the cities.
This proposal, a collaborative effort among NCAR, the Universities of Chile, los Andes, CNEA and the Universidad Nacional de San Martín, represents advances in climate-change research. It combines qualitative and quantitative indicators to represent spatial variations in socioeconomic vulnerability. It compliments an interdisciplinary project modeling all the atmospheric emissions in those cities to more accurately assess vulnerabilities to the combined effects of atmospheric pollution and climate extremes.
The results of the proposed project can be used by the Public Health authorities of the four cities to better plan for extreme weather and air pollution episodes. In conjunction with the project, the project will provide a more integrated analysis of these problems in a climate change context, predominantly in urban areas that may not currently face problems associated with extreme heat, but which might develop them in the future. Researchers will also collaborate with county authorities of the two studied communities in each city in order to better design adequate plans that contribute to decreasing the detected vulnerabilities.
Collaborators: Paty Romero Lankao (ISSE), Mary Hayden (ISSE), Mauricio Osses and Alejandro Leon (U. de Chile), Eduardo Behrenz (U de los Andes, Colombia), Laura Dawidowski (CNEA Argentina), Graciela di Marco ( Universidad Nacional de San Martín Argentina).
Climate Affairs Regional Centers
Climate Affairs programs foster the development of multidisciplinary activities at colleges, universities, and other education and training institutes and centers in the United States and abroad. The first and foremost goal of Climate Affairs is to "educate the educators" in developing countries, where people are seemingly most vulnerabile an d in need of climate-related information. Educators in industrialized countries are vulnerable in many ways to climate variations and change.
Establishing Climate Affairs regional centers will enable students to concentrate part of their educaiton and training in areas of research, impact assessment, and policy implications that center on climate-related issues. As a result, students will be better prepared to work in climate-sensitive sectors such as water resources, industry, agriculture, fisheries, mining, insurance, education, health, civil defense, government agencies, and disaster prevention.
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| Climate Affairs programs around the world, already completed and those in progress (September 2007). |
In addition to the Coastal Urban Affairs program being developed at East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai, China, a new center, initiated by CCB, was launched in FY07: the International Center for Marginal Land Affairs in Northeast Asia. This Center is designed to focus on the interactions among ecosystems, society, and future development in northeastern Asia (norwest China and Manchuria). the Center will serve as a research, training, and education hub for the international scientific and technical communities in the region to share knowledge, experiences, and expertise to deal with climate variability and change issues in the northeast Asian region. In its initial stage, the Center will focus on developing loca, regional, and international networks by organizing workshops, a visitor program, and international conferences. It is expected the the Center will assist local decision makers to identify solutions to key development issues in the region.
As shown by this graph, green dots represent Climate Affairs and Affairs-like programs and courses that have already begun; red dots indicate those under discussion that are likely to be implemented, and yellow dots indicate those that have been proposed. CCB will continue to help with the development of these programs, through telementoring and travel. CCB project scientist Qian Ye will spend considerable time and effort in this activity.
Collaborators include Zafar Adeel (UN Water, Environment, and Health, Montreal, Canada)
Asim Zia, former ASP postdoc (now at Islamabad University, Pakistan)
Khairulmaini bin Osman Salleh (University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur)
Angel Meulenert (Universidad de Guadalajara)
Asfaazam Kasbani (UN Development Programme, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)