Climate Change, Oceans, Public Health, and the Law

Abstract

People don’t often connect climate change impacts occurring in the ocean to public health — but they should. Recognizing the public health threats that are arising as a result of what climate change is doing to the oceans should inform many aspects of climate change adaptation law, from how the international community addresses food security and food equity to how coastal nations plan for increasing coastal inundation. This short essay for the Climate Law Journal discusses the implications for climate change adaptation law of the many connections among the oceans, climate change, and public health, emphasizing the new sets of findings in the IPCC's 2014 Fifth Assessment Report.

Keywords: climate change, ocean, public health, coast, coastal, inundation, food security, disease, cholera, malaria, dengue fever, marine biodiversity