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African-Dust Study Highlighted at Conference on Climate Change and Health Effects in the Caribbean By Chris Kellogg July 2002 in this issue:  previous story | next story PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) logo. The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), under the auspices of the Interagency Network on Climate and Human Health, hosted a 2-day conference and 3-day workshop on climate change and human health in Barbados, West Indies, from May 20 to 25. Supporting agencies included the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the World Meteorological Organization, the U.N. Environment Programme, and Health Canada. The meeting brought together weather and climate professionals and members of the public-health community from a host of Caribbean countries. The main objectives of the conference were to inform health scientists, practitioners, and officials of the impacts of climate variation and long-term climate change in the Caribbean region to integrate health-relevant sectors (for example, water resources, agriculture, and fisheries) to introduce strategies in coastal-zone management that relate to sewage disposal and other health issues to foster joint interdisciplinary research projects among local participants, as well as scientific partnerships between developed and developing nations to promote the incorporation of global, regional, and national climate information into planning for public-health services at the national level The first 2 days of the conference featured presentations on various subjects relating climate change to human health. These presentations gave the workshop participants background information on subjects ranging from El Ni–o to dengue fever and satellite data. Caribbean scenery from the meeting site. Christina Kellogg from the USGS' St. Petersburg Center for Coastal and Regional Marine Studies (CCRMS) was invited to give a 15-minute presentation entitled "Characterization of Microbial Communities Associated with African Desert Dust and Their Implications for Global Human and Ecosystem Health." In her talk, Christina discussed how African-dust influxes to the Caribbean region have increased over the past 2 decades as a result of a lengthy positive-phase North Atlantic Oscillation. Kin to the Pacific Ocean's El Ni–o, the North Atlantic Oscillation is an alternation of high- and low-pressure systems over the North Atlantic that is considered positive when high pressure near the Azores is abnormally strong and low pressure over Iceland is abnormally deep. Among the many effects of the positive phase is an increase in the strength of easterly trade winds that bring dust from Africa into the subtropical Atlantic. Christina described some of the viable microbes that have been cultured from African dust, which seasonally blankets the entire Caribbean and parts of the Southeastern United States. These microbes include plant, animal, and opportunistic human pathogens, with obvious implications for ecosystem health (coral reefs, island flora and fauna) as well as human health. Christina also served as a resource person during the workshop segment of the conference, as participants worked together to create a document summarizing current and future needs for the Caribbean region with regard to understanding and planning for climate-variation issues. More information about the conference is available on the conference Web site. More information about the USGS African-dust project can be found on the Coral Mortality and African Dust project Web site. Coral Mortality and African Dust Project U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Climate Variability and Change and their Health Effects in the Caribbean - Conference and Workshop Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in this issue:  previous story | next story

July 2002 Mailing List: Sign up to receive monthly email updates: print this issue in this issue: cover story: Sea Otter Numbers Slide for Second Straight Year Lake Mead Sediment Study Salmon & Trout Habitat Students Tour M/V Auriga Williams' Presentation on Videotape Benthic-Habitat Symposium Caribbean Climate Change Conference Regional Syntheses Scientists Speak in Reston & D.C. Remote-Sensing Conference Sea-Survival Course Regional Geologist Visits WHFC New WHFC Employees New Student Interns WHFC Labs Pass Audit Award-Winning Student Volunteer Contaminated Sediment - Special Issue of Continental Shelf Research July Publications List

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