The prevalence of harmful air and water pollution, as well as vector-bourne infections diseases, is determined in part by climatic conditions. Human health is rather intimately connected with climate and the environment on local and regional scales. The health and well-being of individuals is of prime importance to the health of our societies.

As climate changes, many potential stressors to human health change as well. Enhancing the frequency of floods and droughts, for example, impacts the life cycle of water-bourne vectors of diseases. Alterations in the moisture content of the air and wind patterns will likely affect the concentration of air-bourne particulates in a given location. Because the New Jersey region is home to several large cities, changes in climate have the potential to affect air quality and, by extension, human health within the state.

Understanding how climate change will impact human health in the future requires the cooperation of scientists in many disciplines, including climatology, biology, and environmental science. Members of the Human Health working group come from the departments of Entomology, Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Human Ecology, the Center for Discrete Mathematics, and Environmental Sciences.