Climate Change-Related Demographic and Health Research: Data and Approaches

In the context of global warming, individuals may, in their lifetimes, experience the gradual increase in average warming and drying conditions, repeated extreme weather events, or small but significant shifts in seasonal precipitation and temperature. Individual- and household-level vulnerability to these conditions increases or decreases in response to a range of interrelated demographic, social, economic, political, and environmental factors. Given the complexity of the exposure factors and the wide range of health and behavioral responses, understanding the processes that link climate change conditions to health and demographic outcomes requires detailed and innovative theory, data, and analytic tools. Combining these theory, data, and tools to advance climate change research represents a new type of integrated scientific approach that engages both physical and social sciences. In this chapter, we describe a range of factors that analysts must consider as they design climate change-health studies. We highlight key datasets and theories and provide examples from recent literature.