Climate Change and Animal Health

This benchmark publication assembles information on the current and  anticipated effects of climate change on animal health. It empowers  educators, managers, practitioners, and researchers by providing  evidence, experience, and opinions on what we need to do to prepare for,  and cope with, the largest threat ever to have faced animals on this  planet. With expert contributors from across the globe, the text equips  the reader with information and means to develop sustainable adaptation  or mitigation actions.

After introducing animal health in a  climate change context, chapters look at specific animal health impacts  arising from climate change. The book concludes with suggestions on  teachable and actionable ideas that could be used to mobilize concepts  provided into education or advocacy.

This book was written amid  the COVID-19 pandemic and in the face of ever-increasing reports of  on-the-ground, real-life climate impacts. Large scale wildfire and ocean  heat waves killed unprecedented numbers of animals, while droughts in  some areas and floods in others displaced thousands of livestock and  made food scarce for even more. Climate change is real, and it is here.  How we respond will have profound implications for people, biodiversity,  welfare, conservation, societies, economies, and ecosystems.

Today's  veterinary educators are awakening to the need to adapt and train a new  generation of animal health professionals who can understand and plan  for climate change, and this book is an essential resource.