ABSTRACT
Climate change is a mounting concern of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health agencies. CDC policy on climate change and public health identifies 11 "priority health actions for climate change." These include monitoring environmental conditions, disease risks, and disease occurrence, and identifying population groups and locations at greatest risk. Other key goals are communicating the health risks of climate change to policy makers, health care providers, and the public, and developing and implementing plans to respond to climate-related health threats. Communities can pursue a broad, multifaceted strategy to reduce their vulnerability to climate extremes. The most effective strategies entail both climate mitigation and adaptation. Urban design guidelines, smart electrical grids, green building codes, and tree preservation ordinances are among the many diverse policy tools that communities can employ to create climate-resilient neighborhoods. Climate change could be the catalyst that focuses society's attention on ensuring the sustainability of the built environment.
