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Climate Change and Microbiological Water Quality at California Beaches

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Abstract

Daily microbiological water quality and precipitation data spanning 6 years were collected from monitoring stations at southern California beaches. Daily precipitation projected for the twenty-first century was derived from downscaled CNRM CM3 global climate model. A time series model of Enterococcus concentrations that was driven by precipitation, matched the general trend of empirical water quality data; there was a positive association between precipitation and microbiological water contamination (P < 0.001). Future projections of precipitation result in a decrease in predicted Enterococcus levels through the majority of the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, variability of storminess due to climate change calls for innovative adaptation and surveillance strategies.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their critical feedback, and Ed Green and Ryan Dwight for their contribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of the Chief Scientist, European Centre for Disease Preventions and Control (ECDC), Tomtebodavägen 11A, 171 83, Stockholm, Sweden

    Jan C. Semenza

  2. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Rd, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    Joshua S. Caplan

  3. Institute of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology (IGKE), University Hospital Cologne, Gleueler Straße 176-178, 50935, Cologne, Germany

    Guido Buescher

  4. Climate, Atmospheric Science and Physical Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Tapash Das & Alexander Gershunov

  5. School of Public Health, Oregon State University, 77 Wedgewood Drive, Eugene, OR, USA

    Mitchell V. Brinks

Authors
  1. Jan C. Semenza
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  2. Joshua S. Caplan
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  3. Guido Buescher
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  4. Tapash Das
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  5. Mitchell V. Brinks
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  6. Alexander Gershunov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan C. Semenza.

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Semenza, J.C., Caplan, J.S., Buescher, G. et al. Climate Change and Microbiological Water Quality at California Beaches. EcoHealth 9, 293–297 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-012-0779-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-012-0779-1

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