title: Climate Change in the North American Arctic: A One Health Perspective.
abstract: Climate change is expected to increase the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases among human and animal populations within the Arctic and subarctic latitudes of North America. Warmer temperatures are expected to increase disease risks from food-borne pathogens, water-borne diseases, and vector-borne zoonoses in human and animal populations of Arctic landscapes. Existing high levels of mercury and persistent organic pollutant chemicals circulating within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in Arctic latitudes are a major concern for the reproductive health of humans and other mammals, and climate warming will accelerate the mobilization and biological amplification of toxic environmental contaminants. The adverse health impacts of Arctic warming will be especially important for wildlife populations and indigenous peoples dependent upon subsistence food resources from wild plants and animals. Additional research is needed to identify and monitor changes in the prevalence of zoonotic pathogens in humans, domestic dogs, and wildlife species of critical subsistence, cultural, and economic importance to Arctic peoples. The long-term effects of climate warming in the Arctic cannot be adequately predicted or mitigated without a comprehensive understanding of the interactive and synergistic effects between environmental contaminants and pathogens in the health of wildlife and human communities in Arctic ecosystems. The complexity and magnitude of the documented impacts of climate change on Arctic ecosystems, and the intimacy of connections between their human and wildlife communities, makes this region an appropriate area for development of One Health approaches to identify and mitigate the effects of climate warming at the community, ecosystem, and landscape scales.
authors.affiliation: Leidos, Inc., 20201 Century Boulevard, Suite 105, Germantown, MD, 20874, USA. jpdudley@alaska.edu.|Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA. jpdudley@alaska.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.affiliation: US National Parasite Collection, U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA. Eric.Hoberg@ARS.USDA.GOV.
authors.forename: Eric P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Hoberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4, Canada. ejj266@mail.usask.ca.
authors.forename: Emily J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.affiliation: Arctic Investigations Program, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA. parkinsonalanj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Parkinson
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001110:Arctic Regions / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D044382:Population Groups; D000069578:Waterborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: One Health; climate change; cultural resilience; environmental pollutants; indigenous peoples; parasites; wildlife diseases; zoonosis