A framework for research linking weather, climate and COVID-19

Benjamin F Zaitchik; Neville Sweijd; Joy Shumake-Guillemot; Andy Morse; Chris Gordon; Aileen Marty; Juli Trtanj; Juerg Luterbacher; Joel Botai; Swadhin Behera; Yonglong Lu; Jane Olwoch; Ken Takahashi; Jennifer D Stowell; Xavier Rodó

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19546-7

A framework for research linking weather, climate and COVID-19

Nat Commun. 2020 Nov 12;11(1):5730. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19546-7.

Authors

Benjamin F Zaitchik¹, Neville Sweijd², Joy Shumake-Guillemot³, Andy Morse⁴, Chris Gordon⁵, Aileen Marty⁶, Juli Trtanj⁷, Juerg Luterbacher⁸, Joel Botai⁹, Swadhin Behera¹⁰, Yonglong Lu¹¹, Jane Olwoch¹², Ken Takahashi¹³, Jennifer D Stowell¹⁴, Xavier Rodó¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA. zaitchik@jhu.edu.
² Alliance for Collaboration on Climate and Earth Systems Science (ACCESS) c/o Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), 15 Lower Hope Road, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa.
³ WHO/WMO Climate and Health Joint Office, World Meteorological Organization, 7bis Avenue de la Paix, C.P. 2300, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BX, UK.
⁵ CDKN CEL-Ghana and Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
⁶ Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, 11200 SW 8th St, AHC2 675, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
⁷ Climate Program Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1315 East-West Highway Suite 100, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA.
⁸ Science and Innovation Department, World Meteorological Organization, 7bis Avenue de la Paix, C.P. 2300, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁹ South African Weather Service, 01 Ecopark Drive, Ecoglades Block B, Centurion, Pretoria, 0157, South Africa.
¹⁰ Application Laboratory, VAiG, JAMSTEC, Yokohama, Japan.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, 361102, Fujian, China.
¹² SASSCAL Regional Secretariat, 28 Robert Mugabe Avenue, Windhoek, Namibia.
¹³ Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del Perú-SENAMHI, Jr. Cahuide 785, Jesús María, Lima, 15072, Peru.
¹⁴ Boston University, 715 Albany Street, The Talbot Building, T4W, Boston, MA, 02118, USA.
¹⁵ ICREA and Climate and Health Program, ISGlobal, Doctor Aiguader 88, Barcelona, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

Early studies of weather, seasonality, and environmental influences on COVID-19 have yielded inconsistent and confusing results. To provide policy-makers and the public with meaningful and actionable environmentally-informed COVID-19 risk estimates, the research community must meet robust methodological and communication standards.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus
Biomedical Research / methods*
COVID-19
Climate
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Coronavirus Infections / transmission*
Humans
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
Pneumonia, Viral / transmission*
Research Design*
Risk
SARS-CoV-2
Seasons
Weather*

Grants and funding

001/WHO_/World Health Organization/International