Home Divisions & Offices Offices Office of Epidemiology Surveillance Emerging Diseases Non-Communicable Diseases Climate Program

Climate Program

The Climate Program focuses on understanding how climate change impacts public health locally and works to implement and collaborate on initiatives that reduce or prevent negative health impacts due to climate change.

About

The Climate Program aims to protect the health of Harris County residents from the effects of climate change by applying the core functions of public health. This program will develop and support:

  • Strategies intended to increase climate resilience
  • Strategies that affect policy as well as individual behavior change
  • Strategies that apply the principles of health equity
  • Strategies that have health and climate co-benefits
  • Actionable solutions for the Harris County community

The Climate Program will ensure a collaborative, cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary approach to addressing climate and health.

For more infomation contact:

Harris County Public Health Climate Program:
Main Switchboard: 713-439-6000

Introduction to Climate and Health

Climate impacts health in a variety of ways. Refer to Climate and Health 101 to learn more about climate changes and their impact on health outcomes.

Projects

The Climate Program has been working on several projects since its creation in 2019. Harris County Public Health (HCPH) collaborated with the City of Houston and other community partners to successfully complete an urban heat mapping campaign. Currently, the Climate Program is working on creating climate and health risk profiles. This two-part project will inform vulnerability assessments and disease burden projections for Harris County.

Resources

Community resources provide information helping address climate impacts, as well as offering additional climate and health education.