On 29 October 2012 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published jointly an Atlas of health and climate that provides scientific information on the connections between weather and climate and major health challenges ranging from diseases of poverty to emergencies arising from extreme weather events and disease outbreaks.

The Atlas gives practical examples of how the use of weather and climate information can protect public health:

• Climate services can help predict the onset, intensity and duration of epidemics.
• Case studies illustrate how collaboration between meteorological, emergency and health services can save lives.
• Cooperation between health and climate services can trigger measures to better protect people during periods of extreme weather events.
• Meteorological and health services can monitor air pollution and its impact on health.
• The relationship between health and climate is shaped by other vulnerabilities, such as those created by poverty, environmental degradation, and poor infrastructure, especially for water and sanitation.

The atlas is available on the WHO website at the following link: http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/atlas/report/en/index.html