Tony McMichael is a medical graduate and epidemiologist. He heads the research program on health risks of climate and environmental changes at the Australian National University (ANU). Previously, he was the Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the ANU and Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1990-92, he chaired the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. During the last two decades he has contributed substantively to the scientific assessment of health risks by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and is currently a Science Advisor to the Australian Government's Climate Commission. He advises the World Health Organisation on environment, climate and health, chairing an expert group on the impacts of environment, climate and agriculture on infectious disease emergence. He is Honorary Professor of Climate Change and Health at University of Copenhagen, and an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Humans are now changing the global climate rapidly, posing great risks to health and survival. While heatwaves and weather disasters may be the ‘face’ of climate change, more serious risks loom: food shortages, freshwater crises, mental health disorders, and altered infectious disease patterns. Many diseases are sensitive to climatic conditions of temperature, rainfall and humidity, influencing microbial proliferation, vectors such as mosquitoes, and ‘reservoir’ species, for example kangaroos for Ross River Virus. Climate-related epidemics are evident from two millennia of natural climatic fluctuations. Was the Plague of Justinian in 542 AD, which enfeebled the fading Roman Empire, triggered by cooling that enabled transmission of bubonic plague from North Africa to Constantinople? There is suggestive evidence of various infectious diseases now responding to climate change. Future risks are uncertain, but modelled estimates for plausible climates to 2100 indicate how dengue fever and salmonellosis may increase in Australia, schistosomiasis in China, malaria in Africa.
Event Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
Tony McMichael is a medical graduate and epidemiologist. He heads the research program on health risks of climate and environmental changes at the Australian National University (ANU). Previously, he was the Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the ANU and Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1990-92, he chaired the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. During the last two decades he has contributed substantively to the scientific assessment of health risks by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and is currently a Science Advisor to the Australian Government's Climate Commission. He advises the World Health Organisation on environment, climate and health, chairing an expert group on the impacts of environment, climate and agriculture on infectious disease emergence. He is Honorary Professor of Climate Change and Health at University of Copenhagen, and an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Humans are now changing the global climate rapidly, posing great risks to health and survival. While heatwaves and weather disasters may be the ‘face’ of climate change, more serious risks loom: food shortages, freshwater crises, mental health disorders, and altered infectious disease patterns. Many diseases are sensitive to climatic conditions of temperature, rainfall and humidity, influencing microbial proliferation, vectors such as mosquitoes, and ‘reservoir’ species, for example kangaroos for Ross River Virus. Climate-related epidemics are evident from two millennia of natural climatic fluctuations. Was the Plague of Justinian in 542 AD, which enfeebled the fading Roman Empire, triggered by cooling that enabled transmission of bubonic plague from North Africa to Constantinople? There is suggestive evidence of various infectious diseases now responding to climate change. Future risks are uncertain, but modelled estimates for plausible climates to 2100 indicate how dengue fever and salmonellosis may increase in Australia, schistosomiasis in China, malaria in Africa.
Shine Dome,9 Gordon Street Australian Capital Territory false DD/MM/YYYYEvent Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
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