Costing Climate Change: a case study of employing climate, land-use and water quality data to assess the economic impacts of climate change on local public health

Abstract

One of the potential linkages between climate change and public health stems from the way climate change may increase the likelihood of human exposure to water-borne pathogens. Climate change may have this effect due to 1) increased survival of fecal pathogens on land mediated by temperature and precipitation, 2) transport of pathogens over land and loading to water sources, and 3) increased risks from failure of water treatment and disinfections arising from flooding, and storm-water and sewage/septic overflows.