In simple terms, the expected health impacts of climate change worldwide are typically distilled to concerns over heat stress, cardio-respiratory disease, diarrheal disease, malnutrition and food insecurity, health impacts of extreme weather events, and changes in infectious disease distribution (especially vector-borne diseases). Many of these concerns relate to acute diseases, but it is increasingly recognized that the environmental changes set in train by climatic change can also impact on chronic diseases.

All these forms of health impact need more research attention, both for adaptation to future change and also to enable us to deal with those problems better in the here and now. In many cases we can expect climate change to intensify (or in some cases ameliorate) existing patterns of diseases, but it is also possible that climate change will lead to alterations in disease distribution, potentially creating new health problems in new places (in sites where diseases are not yet endemic or widespread).

What do we need to understand about climate and health impacts in order to improve the prospects for adaptation? From a cross-disciplinary perspective, there are perhaps three main forms of research required: closer understanding of climate-disease pathways and the epidemiology of changing exposure; applied studies on health system response and adaptation to climate-related health risks; and analysis of human vulnerability and health behaviour in the face of ongoing and changing risk. An additional research theme is assessment of potential public health benefits that may arise from efforts to mitigate climate change through reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions.