Grief and Hope in a Changing Climate
In October of 2017, I had a panic attack as ash and smoke rained down on California’s Bay Area. Days before, winds at the rate...
The Biden-Harris Administration’s First 100 Days: How Did they Fare on Climate, Health, and Equity?
For the special Let’s Talk Climate episode, “The Biden-Harris Administration’s First 100 Days: How Did they Fare on Climate, Health, and Equity?” Climate for Health...
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) states, “During May, NAMI joins the national movement to raise awareness...
New Podcast from the National Recreation and Park Association: Addressing Issues at the Intersection of Climate and Health
In celebration of April being Earth Month, and with Earth Day coming up on Thursday, we’re excited to be discussing a program focused on creating leaders for...
Denial: Our Biggest Environmental Health Threat?
ecoAmerica’s most recent contribution to the National Environmental Health Association’s Journal of Environmental Health, “Denial: Our Biggest Environmental Health Threat?” was published in the May 2021...
Want more clean energy? Focus on people, not technology
To prevent pipes from freezing, set the thermostat in your house no lower than 55°F, an article tells me. I set the temperature to 55°F,...
NEW: More than 100 Health Professionals and Organizations Support Recommendations on Climate, Health & Equity for HHS
Climate for Health joined over 100 health professionals and organizations to support a set of recommendations to build climate, health, and equity across the Department...
This Earth Day, Let’s #RemodelforResilience
Earth Day has become synonymous with spring. Spring flowers, spring cleaning, spring faith traditions like Passover and Easter, and now Earth Day – a celebration...
Join Us: National Health + Climate Forum at ACLS 2021
Coming out of a year of multiple crises and a decisive election, 2021 is our moment to forge a path forward to a stable climate starting with...
COVID-19 and Climate Change: The Need for Equitable Solutions
The global climate crisis has challenged the COVID-19 response, further underlining the disproportionate impact of climate change on health. Communities vulnerable to climate related health...
Climate of Health and Hope: New Opportunities for Public Health Professionals
A growing number of public health professionals find themselves responding to the urgent health impacts of climate change, whether they are prepared for this work,...
We Need Climate Solutions that Prioritize Black Births
The recent winter storm, Uri, ravaged the southern U.S. leaving many families huddled together in a desperate search for warmth, electricity and potable water. In...
New Research from ecoAmerica: Health Surpasses Jobs in Climate Action Support
ecoAmerica’s latest survey finds “health” at the top of the list of motivations for climate solutions — raking even higher than “jobs”. Twelve months of...
Recording Now Available, “Health at the Root of Climate Justice”
Our health and our families’ health motivate us to act on ambitious and equitable climate solutions. Health is also at the root of climate justice....
Reflections: Federal Action on Environmental Justice
This year is the 30th anniversary of the 1991 People of Color Environmental Summit, where the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice were set forth. These...
It’s About People
As we enter a new presidency, a new era, and a new decade, we are still so divided on so many issues. In a time...
The Office of Children’s Health Protection is a vital part of EPA’s Mission
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose mission is to protect human health and the environment, sets and enforces regulations to ensure safe environments where we...
Talk About Climate Change, It Makes a Difference
When talking about climate change, I often ponder how to reach out to more audiences, how to cross barriers, how to carry the compelling message...
Climate, Health, and Equity Recommendations for the Biden-Harris Administration
Health and medical experts agree that climate change is a health emergency – one of the greatest threats to human health that America has ever...
Recording Now Available, “Hindsight is 2020: Our Climate & Health Goals for 2021”
Last week, we hosted the first health-focused Let’s Talk Climate episode this year, Hindsight is 2020: Our Climate & Health Goals for 2021. As a...
New Year, New Attitude Towards Climate
As I look forward to a new year, I cannot forget all that has arisen this past year. From wildfires to COVID-19 to the presidential...
New NEHA Climate Change Position Statement
The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) has published a new Climate Change Position Statement in 2020. Through its second published climate change position statement, NEHA...
Supporting Youth-Led Climate Action in San Marcos, CA
Can I tell you how happy I am that I found the Climate for Health Ambassadors program? I was environmentally conscious, hoping others felt the...
New Climate Change & Health Report Assesses States’ Preparedness
This week, Trust for America’s Health and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health released a new report, Climate Change & Health: Assessing State...
New Lancet Countdown Report Recommends Swift Action to Achieve Health Equity through Climate Action
On December 2, the 2020 global report of the Lancet Countdown on Health & Climate Change was released, along with the Policy Brief for the...
ecoAmerica’s newest piece in NEHA’s Journal of Environmental Health
ecoAmerica’s most recent contribution to the National Environmental Health Association’s Journal of Environmental Health was published in the December 2020 issue, “Ambition, Restoration, and Justice:...
Two Climate for Health Leadership Circle Members Call for a National Institute of Climate Change and Health
In a recent opinion piece in Scientific American, Drs. Howard Frumkin and Richard J. Jackson make the case for creating a National Institute of Climate Change...
Fight or Flight? Ideas on Building Resilient Communities
Since moving away from California eight years ago, I’ve longed to come back home. I spent the first 18 years of my life in the...
Blooming Large: Tracking the Health Risks of Harmful Algae in a Tribal Community
The Salish Sea spans through what is currently known as Washington State and British Columbia and is blessed with an abundance of resources that have...
Climate Ready Tribes Spotlight: Pala Band of Mission Indians
The United States is home to more than 570 individual federally-recognized Indian tribes. Each one of these distinct Tribal nations is facing the challenge of...
Watch Now, “Ambassadors in Action: Health Advocacy for Climate Solutions”
On our most recent Let’s Talk Climate episode, we were joined by Dr. Neelu Tummala, an ear, nose, and throat physician and clinical assistant professor...
Southeast Alaska Tribes Face Climate Change with Partnership
Southeast Alaska is a place like no other. Coastal brown bears stalk the shores, old growth forests grow tall and salmon serve as the lifeblood...
Introducing the National Indian Health Board Climate Ready Tribes Initiative
Every summer when I was a child, my father took my brother and me over to our Blackfeet reservation near Browning, Montana, for a big...
Watch the Recording, “Vote Kids: Climate Change and the 2020 Election”
As we prepare to enter the voting booth this Election Day, partisan politics may dominate the headlines, but there are far more important issues at...
Safe Water for Families
My commute to Manati, a town located in the northwestern part of the island of Puerto Rico, was a time of relaxation away from the...
Dr. Plastic Picker: How I decided to go All In on Climate Solutions
Plogging is jogging while picking trash. Plalking is walking while litter-picking. Plurfing is gathering plastic while surfing. #fillabag is when you find a bag and...
Using Tools We Have to Ensure a Healthy Environment for Children
Last summer, one of my patients, a 10-year-old boy I’ll call James, came to see me for a sports physical before starting a summer sports...
It’s Time to Wake Up to Threat of Climate Change, and to Act
As pediatricians and trainees, we have all experienced moral awakenings that have compelled us to take action to protect children. As I step outside each...
Climate Action for Children’s Health
As a Pediatrician, I am well-versed in providing guidance to families to keep their kids healthy. Cut back on sugary drinks. At least 1 hour...
Opportunities for Pediatric Leadership: Wildfire Smoke a Growing Threat to Vulnerable Children
Halloween. Daylights Savings. Wildfire smoke. Evacuations. Power outages. All of these things are associated with transitions from summer to fall in Northern California. This year...
A Pediatrician’s Journey into Climate Advocacy
I am a pediatrician and I advocate on behalf of America’s greatest resource – our children. The first patient that died under my care was...
Celebrating Children’s Health Month in October: Actions & Resources
Time is harder to keep track of these days, and we continue to face compounding crises assaulting our health, environment, democracy, and economy. But, just...
Miami University (OH) Commits to a Sustainable Future on the Autumn Equinox
On September 22, 2020, the first day of autumn, an equinox occurred marking when the sun passed directly over the earth’s equator. Prior to and...
Insight into Climate Change & Local Preparedness Efforts with NACCHO
In the present moment, and mere days before World Environmental Health Day on September 26, the intersection between climate change and preparedness is, sadly, quite...
Recording Available: A Vote for Health is a Vote for Climate
In the midst of a global pandemic, with climate disasters raging across the country, many Americans are laser focused on one date: November 3. “The...
Leading U.S. Health Organizations Call for Action on Mental Health and Climate Change
Last month, as part of American Climate Leadership Summit 2020, 17 national organizations publicly announced the Social Climate Leadership Group (SCLG), a newly formed effort...
Perspectives on Climate Change, COVID-19, and Public Health from Utah
Path to Positive Utah and board member of our partner Utah Clean Energy Dr. Jeff Robison, the director of the Global, Rural, and Underserved Child...
Climate for Health Ambassadors Training at NACCHO 360
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) partnered with ecoAmerica to host a Climate for Health Ambassadors training on July 6, 2020. This training...
Then and Now: Dismantling Systemic Racism for Equity
Although the recent swell of a global pandemic and exposure of the deep-rooted heinous incidents of police brutality have incited protests, triggered a wave of...
Energy Justice: A Public Health Issue
On a recent Let’s Talk Climate episode, I sat down with Surili Patel from the American Public Health Association (APHA) to discuss one of their...
Taking action to improve health: Advocacy resources and success stories from health care sector
Health professionals have an ethical responsibility to take action to protect the health of our patients and communities. They have a unique opportunity to influence...
Engaging the Health Sector in Climate Action
On this special episode of ecoAmerica’s Let’s Talk Climate series, I had a conversation with Gloria Barrera, RN, and Jerome Paulson, MD, about engaging their...
Georgia Chapter of The American Academy of Pediatrics Adopts a Resolution on Climate Change and Child Health
In February, the Georgia American Academy of Pediatrics’ Board of Directors voted to adopt a resolution on climate change and child health. The resolution, now...
Vote for Children’s Environmental Health and Equity
Our children are our most valuable resources, yet their health and that of their families and communities have not been at the forefront of our...
National Association of School Nurses joins Nursing Collaborative on Climate Change and Health to Advance Climate Solutions and Promote Child Health
“There is nothing more important to the health of our children than the health of our planet.” With this assertion, Janis Hogan, Maine’s National Association...
NEW Research on Climate Change & Birth Outcomes
Last September, JAMA Network Open (JNO), the online, open-access version of one of the country’s most highly regarded medical journals, put out a “call for...
Environmental Racism, Climate Justice, and Health
On June 11, I had the honor and privilege to engage in an energizing and powerful conversation about “Environmental Racism, Climate Justice, and Health” with...
“Motherhood in a Changing Climate: Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes” Recording Now Available
We premiered our Let’s Talk Climate webcast series with a trio of speakers sharing information and insights on the impacts climate change is having on...
Children’s Health & Climate Change: A Moment of Reflection on Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics and ecoAmerica took a moment to reflect on our partnership...
Anticipated Impacts of the Climate Crisis on Women’s Health: A Call to Action
Our fundamental mission as healthcare providers is to protect the health of our patients. While heroic worldwide efforts are underway to combat COVID-19, the greatest...
Greener Parks are a Quality of Life Benefit
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed how important local outdoor spaces are for comfort, activity and solitude. Many people are finding a new...
Introducing ecoAmerica’s Webcast Series: LET’S TALK CLIMATE
The must-attend, go-to webcast discussion for the most current and best thinking on climate change ecoAmerica is introducing Let’s Talk Climate to provide guidance and support to...
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
The last few months have posed a unique challenge for all of us: stay away from each other in order to stay healthy. Physical distancing...
New Resources from the American Public Health Association’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity
COVID-19 and the practice of physical distancing have recently challenged families and educators in unprecedented ways. Many caregivers and young people are feeling restless and...
Clinicians for Planetary Health: Community in the Time of COVID-19
Today we want to celebrate the amazing work being done by each and every one of you— whether you are on the frontlines of treating patients, educating your...
Climate Leadership Amidst COVID-19
We’re all trying to orient ourselves to a new world. We are amidst a fast-moving pandemic and economic contraction, and immediately concerned about our families...
Changing Climate Concerns with Food Safety: Shellfish in Virginia
As the changing climate continues to challenge our planet, a most noticeable impact has affected our coastal waters. Ocean water temperatures are becoming warmer. Accordingly,...
Now Available: “Mobilizing Action for Climate, Health, and Equity”
Climate for Health was thrilled to host the webinar, Mobilizing Action for Climate, Health, and Equity, as part of National Public Health Week 2020.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMMQOSv_pNQ[/embed]We heard...
Earth Day is Everybody’s Movement: Announcing When the Earth Moves Video Premiere
When the Earth Moves reclaims the authentic story and original vision of Earth Day as a bipartisan and socially just environmental movement and highlights the...
Leading a Call to Action: How Oregon Public Health Association brought partners together to declare climate change a public health emergency in Oregon
“More than 500 Oregon Health Leaders Declare Climate Change A Public Health Emergency” – this was the headline of a story playing on the local...
Congratulations to the American Climate Leadership Awards Winners!
Thank you to all who joined us at the American Climate Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony on March 25! Congratulations to the winner, CALPIRG Students, who...
Tune In On Wednesday: American Climate Leadership Awards
Please join us for the American Climate Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony this Wednesday, March 25, at 1pm ET via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/850161088. We received over 200 submissions...
How the National Environmental Health Association Is Walking the Talk on Climate and Health
Q: Share some recent ways that NEHA has been walking the talk on climate and health?A: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) was honored to...
American Climate Leadership Summit 2020 Rescheduled
In the interest of our individual and collective health and wellbeing, ecoAmerica is rescheduling the American Climate Leadership Summit to August 26-27, 2020. Given current...
Climate Change as a Priority for School Nurses
“I’ve made it a priority to advocate for healthy environments, and raise awareness on climate change as a school nurse and nursing professor. One of...
Climate for Health Ambassadors in Action: Climate Change Grand Rounds
Last week I gave a presentation entitled “The Health Effects of Climate Damage” for Grand Rounds in the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth...
National Children’s Health and Climate Leadership Forum
The National Children’s Health and Climate Leadership Forum will bring together more than 100 leaders from organizations dedicated to children’s well-being to increase awareness, inspire...
CLIMATE Advances: Creating CHANGE In Government
Great news at the state level in the Commonwealth of Virginia: Changes are taking place in state government to address Climate.After a series of recent...
New Resource Announcement: Climate for Health Moving Forward Guide
Climate change is the greatest health threat of our time, and in response, health professionals across the U.S. and around the world are stepping into...
Utah Climate for Health Ambassadors Training
Earlier this month, I attended the Climate for Health Ambassadors Training at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City. As someone who is heavily...
Faith, Health, and Climate: Finding Connections and Building Bridges
Editor’s note: Climate for Health and Blessed Tomorrow invited two leaders to share their thoughts on the intersections of faith and health in addressing climate...
Give Babies A Fighting Chance
ecoAmerica’s Let’s Talk Climate: Messages to Motivate Americans encourages us to:Connect climate action to moral responsibility for future generationsFocus on family and childrenHighlight healthProject a...
The Moral Imperative to Improve Planetary Health Through Climate Solutions
While there may be different motivations and pathways, studies and scripture have led us to the same conclusion: faith and health leaders alike recognize the...
Every Child Has the Right to Thrive in a Healthy Environment
We love our children. And that comes with certain responsibilities. Providing them with clean air, clean water, and healthy sustainable communities with access to natural...
Responding to Climate Change Means Investing in School Health: #ChildrenAtTheCenter
While there are several sources of carbon emissions that contribute to global temperature rise, the buildings sector accounts for 39% of annual US carbon emissions...
New Resource from PSR- Heat, Fire, Water: How Climate Change Has Created a Public Health Emergency
In a new white paper, Physicians for Social Responsibility Board Member, Dr. Alan Lockwood, has drawn on the content of the three major climate reports...
NEW Talking Points: Protect Clean Air, Protect Our Health
For almost 50 years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been fulfilling its mission to protect human health and the environment. In fact, before the...
APHA’s Climate Change and Health Needs Assessment
Climate change presents increasingly serious, complex challenges to the public’s health. In response to these challenges, the American Public Health Association’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity inspires...
New Active Transportation and Climate Change Infographic from the American College of Sports Medicine
By biking, walking, and rolling you are improving your physical and mental health and addressing one of the biggest contributors to climate change – emissions from...
Climate for Health joins over 70 health and medical groups to launch The Call to Action on Climate, Health and Equity
Last week, we joined more than 70 health and medical groups to launch The Call to Action on Climate, Health and Equity: A Policy Action Agenda to...
Nurses Take Climate Action: MGH Institute of Health Professions joins the Nursing Collaborative on Climate Change and Health
Today the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) and Climate for Health announced that the Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health, a nurse-led initiative...
Resources from our Live Twitter Chat with Salud America! on Air Quality and Pollution
On Tuesday, June 11 Climate for Health co-hosted a live Tweetchat with Salud America! on the topic of air quality and pollution. We used the...
Taking action on climate change to improve public health
This July, the American Public Health Association is bringing students and early-career professionals from all over the country to Washington, D.C., to speak for health....
Summer is Coming: Climate Change and Air Quality Resources for Parents and Kids
Summer means playing outside, swimming at the pool, and, according to the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, unique climate impacts to...
Turning Research into Action: Lessons from the American Climate Leadership Summit 2019
Climate change is a health emergency and requires collaboration across sectors; from healthcare professionals to research scientists, from urban planners to nonprofit organizations, from seasoned...
Asthma, Allergies, and Climate Change
I live in Washington, DC and every morning when I walk outside, there is a thin layer of pollen that has accumulated…everywhere! I have a little...
A Call for Clinicians to Act on Planetary Health
The Lancet, one of the oldest and most prestigious medical journals, published “A Call for Clinicians to Act on Planetary Health” on April 19, 2019,...
Promoting Maternal and Children’s Health: Women’s Health Nurses Fight Climate Change
While climate change affects human health in various ways, certain populations, such as pregnant women, the developing fetus, and children are more vulnerable to climate-related...
Evidence-based Advice for Talking about Climate Change
Talking to people about climate change can feel like a tightrope act. You need to snag their interest, and you want them to understand why...
Health Is A Major Motivator for American Climate Action
Last fall, several national and international academies issued reports on the impacts of climate change, including on human health. From the IPCC to NCA4, WHO,...
Climate change and health are inherently local: rural or urban, climate change impacts us all
Images, photos, and news coverage of climate change impacts tend to zoom in on the urban consequences- flooding in the streets after a large rain...
Nurses utilize ecoAmerica’s research to inform outreach on climate change and health in the Nurses Climate Challenge
Throughout the years, nurses have played a vital role in addressing the many environmental hazards that affect human health. From advocating for safe workplace conditions...
Turning Climate Panic Into Progress: Your Talking Points
[caption id="attachment_3723" align="alignleft" width="300"] Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash[/caption] If Americans are hearing anything about climate change, it is likely the bad news. Our...
Climate Attitudes Differ in Rural, Suburban, and Urban Living
[caption id="attachment_3704" align="alignleft" width="300"] Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash[/caption] Climate change impacts all Americans, but presents itself differently in every corner of the U.S.,...
New Hope for Action: Key Republican Climate Attitudes Shift
As we transition into 2019 and welcome a new Congress, there is renewed hope for climate action. While political gridlock remains the greatest impediment to...
NEHA’s Declaration on 100% Clean Energy by 2030
As part of the National Environmental Health Association’s partnership with Climate for Health, we are addressing climate change through clean energy solutions. NEHA’s Board of...
Climate Priorities for the New U.S. Congress
Last month’s election results sent a clear message: Americans consider climate change a top priority, and they want elected office holders to act. As the...
Climate Change is Making Headlines: How to Talk About it
Starting meaningful conversations about climate change with our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and policymakers has been a challenge in the past. How do you bring up...
Serving Up Climate Conversations for Thanksgiving
[caption id="attachment_3537" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo from Pixabay user MaggiePoo[/caption] It’s that time of year again. Pumpkins are being carved, meals are being prepared, and most...
72% of Americans Say Climate Solutions Should be a Higher Priority
Last month, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their special report outlining the consequence of a changing climate, and the measures...
OUR FUTURE V. THE UNITED STATES
[caption id="attachment_3451" align="alignleft" width="300"] Robin Loznak/ Our Children’s Trust[/caption] October is traditionally celebrated as children’s health month. This is a time to bring attention to health...
Climate as a Voting Issue, Part 2: A Majority of Americans Would Vote for a Climate Candidate
With elections just around the corner, and recent news coverage about politicians talking about climate change, Americans are beginning to think about the candidates and issues they...
NEHA and Climate for Health Release New Video Addressing Climate Change Impacts & Solutions
The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), in partnership with Climate for Health, a program of ecoAmerica, has developed a five-minute video featuring NEHA members’ success stories addressing climate change...
Voting and Climate Change: Talking Points
The midterm elections are just around the corner, and many Americans are beginning to have political discussions with their friends and families, colleagues, and communities....
Put Children’s Environmental Health at the Center This Election Season
Extreme weather conditions linked to climate change have impacted the environment, economy, and health of communities throughout the world. Recently in the U.S. alone there...
Children’s Health Protection is a Critical Measure of Success in Addressing Climate Change
The voices of health professionals on climate solutions have been steadily rising and the health sector is stepping up to mitigate our own climate impact...
Climate as a Voting Issue, Part 1: September American Climate Perspectives Survey
This election season has been filled with reports showing the widening partisan divide in America. Opinion gaps are growing on topics such as poor and...
Climate change and the built environment: it’s time to make changes
Louisiana is known as a sportsman’s paradise, Florida is vacationland and, as we all know, everything is bigger in Texas. Unfortunately, that can be a...
Climate Change Can Bring Us Together: 5 Simple Rules for Climate Advocacy
Everywhere we turn it seems we bump up against something political. The news we watch, the athletes we support and even the restaurants where we...
Are Americans Connecting Severe Weather to Climate Change?
Throughout the country, Americans are noticing something different about the weather. The seasons feel warmer, wildfires seem worse, and floods and hurricanes are more severe....
Extreme Weather and Climate Change: Talking Points
Whether Americans are looking out their windows, or turning on the local news, we are increasingly confronted by severe weather events — unprecedented droughts, storms,...
Public Health Impacts of Extreme Weather Associated with Climate Change
Nurses approach health from a holistic and comprehensive viewpoint. That holistic view of health is foundational to advocacy work I do as a member of...
Three Takeaways on Nuclear Power Survey
Within the climate community, one of the greatest areas of debate is the role of nuclear energy in the mix of climate solutions. Nuclear power...
July is Climate Change & Children’s Health Month
ecoAmerica and Climate for Health are joining the Children’s Environmental Health Network to put #ChildrenAtTheCenter. In January, CEHN launched a monthly education-to-action series as part...
Health Leaders Explore Opportunities to Increase Climate Change Mitigation and Advocacy
Download Summary On May 15, ecoAmerica and Climate for Health convened more than 50 health leaders for the National Climate and Health Leadership Forum, co-hosted...
Humans Have a Right to Clean Air and a Healthy Climate
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all people are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are...
Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Health: Making the Connection
As nurses, we know that clean air is essential for human health. Yet many people in the United States are living in areas with unhealthy...
2018 June American Climate Perspectives: Mid-Year Summary
Americans’ attitudes on climate are changing, and the change is in a positive direction. To better understand how these views are evolving, and what that...
Now Available: June Talking Points
Download Talking Points The discourse around a warming world often gets hung up on politics, but what Americans really care about — and want to...
NEHA Members’ Climate and Health Awareness: Challenges, Growth, and Solutions
Addressing climate change can be overwhelming and daunting. However, NEHA and its Climate Change Program are up for the challenge. NEHA is meeting this task...
A Closer Look: the Influence of Health and Faith on Climate
Are Americans looking to leaders outside of the political arena for guidance on climate change? ecoAmerica and Lake Research Partners set out to find this...
Climate changes tribal and indigenous health
Climate change is today’s greatest public health challenge. While all of us will experience the health impacts of climate change, some groups, including tribal communities, are...
Visualizing Environmental & Climate Injustice in Rockport, Texas
I often struggle to instill in undergraduate nursing students the concept of inequity and why this is an important concept to understand for their nursing practice....
Now Available: April Talking Points
A clean energy future is within our grasp. We can have locally-made energy from the wind and the sun that ensures our air is clean...
Examining what impacts biking behavior beyond the bike lane: Climate and health co-benefits
We’ve all heard the expression, “If you build it, they will come.” Does it apply to bike lanes and cyclists? If we paint some lanes...
Accelerating Health Leadership on Climate Solutions: New Polling Results Indicate Americans’ Changing Attitudes
Isaac Newton’s third law of motion is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Recalling our physics lessons might give us some insight...
Collective nursing leadership: Addressing climate change now and in the future
Since the start of our profession, nurses have made the connection between a healthy environment and improved health. Having clean air to breathe and clean...
Honoring Our Heritage, Leaving a Legacy: Environmental Health and Climate Change
“Legacy” is defined, in part, as “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor from the past.” We often think about legacies in...
Now Available: February Talking Points
Health professionals have always been on the front lines of caring for their patients and advocating for solutions to America’s most pressing public health concerns....
A Path to Positive on Climate in 2018
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it...
1 Year In: Poll Finds Trump Stirring Climate Attitudes, Action
Most of what Americans heard from the Trump Administration in its first year focused on dismissing climate change as a human-made problem, undermining the legitimacy...
Welcome to Climate Talking Points! Your New Tools
It can be hard to have a positive discussion on climate change. It is a complex issue. Many of us are in our ideological information...
ACLS 2017 Recommendations Report: Taking Up the Health Mantle
It’s here! The Recommendations Report from the 2017 American Climate Leadership Summit, “Taking Up the Mantle,” was published at the close of last year. On October 25 and 26,...
Let’s Lead on Climate, featuring Chris Uejio of Florida’s BRACE (Building Resilience Against Climate Effects) program
Following on the success of our Let's Talk series of guides, ecoAmerica has released Let's Lead on Climate, a new guide featuring success stories from local...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4-NOVEMBER 10
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
Let’s Lead: New ecoAmerica Guide Features Health Professionals Leading the Way on Climate
Following on the success of our Let's Talk series of guides, ecoAmerica has released Let's Lead on Climate, a new guide featuring success stories from...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 28-NOVEMBER 3
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
“Nurses Caring for Climate and Health”: Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, in Partnership with Climate for Health, Releases New Video
Climate change is one of the most pressing public health problems of our time. But it is also one of the greatest opportunities to make...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Melissa Ibarra
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held the first-ever Learning Institute:...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 14-OCTOBER 20
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 7-OCTOBER 13
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
Q&A with 2017 American Climate Leadership Summit Speaker Dr. Georges Benjamin
ecoAmerica's 2017 American Climate Leadership Summit will take place at the National Press Club in Washington, DC October 25-26. At the Summit, attendees from across...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 6
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
October 12, 2017 – CEH Day: A Day to Stand Up for Children’s Environmental Health
October is Children's Environmental Health Month and October 12th is Children's Environmental Health Day, a day set aside to spread awareness of and promote action...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23-SEPTEMBER 29
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Aubree Thelen
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held the first-ever Learning Institute:...
Preparing for extreme weather to come
This is the Year of Climate Change and Health, a 12-month American Public Health Association-led initiative with monthly themes meant to raise awareness of and mobilize...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 16-SEPTEMBER 22
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
Climate Week NYC and ecoAmerica’s American Climate Leadership Summit: Cross-sector Collaboration on Climate Solutions
This weekend marks the conclusion of Climate Week 2017, which coincided with the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. A project of...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 9-SEPTEMBER 15
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2-SEPTEMBER 8
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
What Can Health Professionals Learn from Events Like Hurricane Harvey?
The American Public Health Association (APHA) has identified 2017 as the Year of Climate Change and Health. APHA has further assigned each month of 2017...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 1
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 20-AUGUST 26
Each week, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
American Climate Leadership Summit Amplifies the Health Professional Voice on Climate Solutions
In this opinion piece in STAT, a national publication committed to topics and scientific discoveries in health and medicine, authors Gary Yohe, PhD, professor of economics and...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 13-AUGUST 19
Every Monday, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
New Report and Survey Demonstrate Evolving Perceptions on Climate Change
With inaction on climate policy at the federal level, hope can at times be at a low ebb for those who care about public health...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 6-AUGUST 12
Every Monday, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 30-AUGUST 5
Every Monday, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
New State Policy Initiative provides the antidote to federal climate policy gridlock
As the federal government waivers and remains gridlocked on policy to protect the public’s health from the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, this week marked...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 23-JULY 29
Every Monday, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 16-JULY 22
Every Monday, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Jason Craig
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held the first-ever Learning Institute:...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 9-JULY 15
Every Monday, Climate for Health shares the past week’s most interesting and useful climate stories. Check in to learn about major developments in climate and...
A Climate and Health Conference and Climate Day LA: An Auspicious Start to a New Beginning
In the last few weeks since beginning my new position as Program Manager of ecoAmerica’s Climate for Health program, I’ve had the opportunity to participate...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 2-JULY 8
While the Trump administration is busy cutting back environmental regulations that support and promote the public's health, it is also making it more difficult for...
CLIMATE AND HEALTH NEWS: TOP STORIES FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 25-JULY 1
The dangers posed by a changing climate are pervasive, from threats to our individual health from vector-based disease to inequality and disruptions to our food...
CLIMATE LEADERSHIP IN LA: INTERVIEW WITH NOURBESE FLINT
Nourbese Flint is the Policy Director and Manager of Reproductive Justice Programming for Black Women for Wellness and a Climate Day LA speaker. Tell us about your...
CLIMATE LEADERSHIP IN LA: INTERVIEW WITH RACHELLE REYES WENGER
Rachelle Wenger is the Director of Public Policy & Community Advocacy of Dignity Health and a scheduled speaker for Climate Day LA 2017. Tell us about your...
A Call to Action: Nurses’ Inspiring Leadership on Climate and Health
On June 12th and 13th, almost 100 nursing professionals from around the country came to Washington, D.C. to attend the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of June 18-June 24
Summer’s here, and that means heat waves, which are often amplified by climate change. “Deadly heat waves could endanger 74% of mankind, study says,” by...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Tanjila Taskin
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held their first-ever Learning Institute:...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of June 11-June 17
This past week saw Washington lagging behind on climate even as the rest of America was stepping up. “EPA: Air pollution rule should be delayed--despite...
Post-Paris Pullout, the Health Sector Is Stepping Up for Climate Action
When President Donald J. Trump announced on June 1 that he intends to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement, many of us...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of June 4-June 10
Leaders from all across America and the globe continued to make climate pledges and plans in the wake of the President's rejection of the Paris...
Talking About Climate Change in the Emergency Department
Should we be talking about the health impacts of climate change with our patients in the emergency department (ED)? Admittedly, this is a question I...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of May 28-June 3
Top of the news this week was the President's June 1 decision to pull out of the Paris Accord on climate change. "Trump announces...
New Field at Intersection of Planet, Humanity & Health Kicks Off Premier Conference
During the last weekend in April, while millions took peacefully to the streets for climate marches, nearly 400 people--hailing from 28 countries and 30 states...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of May 21-27
This past week, the President traveled abroad for a two-day summit of the Group of Seven nations. There members leaned on him to join the...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Ruth McDermott-Levy
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held the first-ever Learning Institute:...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of May 14-20
U.N. climate negotiations concluded in Bonn, Germany on Thursday with delegates pressing on despite the Trump Administration's possible pulling out of the Paris pact. Nevertheless,...
Challenging, but Worth It: Developing a Climate-Change Communication Workshop
Medical students often complain that we don’t have enough time to do the things we want to do (outside of coursework) because of medical school’s...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of May 7-May 13
Last week, we got several pieces of good news on the climate politics front: "Trump administration delays decision on leaving climate pact,” by Coral Davenport...
The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments to Host Climate Change and Health Event for Nurses
Registration is now open for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE)’s Climate Change, Health, and Nursing: A Call to Action conference, to be...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of April 30-May 6
Pressure is mounting for America to #LeadOnClimate. As last week came to a close, political leaders, the international community, and his daughter Ivanka all were...
The People’s Climate March: Standing Up for Planetary Health
Saturday, April 29 brought some weird weather to Washington, D.C.: scorching, 90-degree temperatures. But for tens of thousands of dedicated people in the nation’s capital,...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of April 23-29
From the White House to the streets of Washington, D.C. and beyond, environmental politics dominated the news this week. President Trump signed two new executive...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Sandra Whitehead
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held the first-ever Learning Institute:...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of April 16-22
Climate change was front and center in the news this week, culminating in Earth Day and a March for Science in Washington, D.C. and other...
Short Sleeves in January: A Medical Student’s Journey to Understanding Climate and Health
This week, ecoAmerica intern Matthew Mueller (at left) shares his personal and professional experiences with climate change and its intersection with health care. In his...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of April 9-15
This week, while the Federal Government pushed ahead on efforts to roll back progress on climate and health, most other sectors charged forward to implement...
Hold Your Breath
The following essay by Lise Van Susteren, M.D., originally appeared in the medical journal Clinical Psychiatry News. Dr. Van Susteren, a member of Climate for...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of April 2-8
Last week, the Trump Administration was touting a revival of dirty energy and the federal Bureau of Land Management even briefly changed its homepage image...
Updated Report & Webinar Open Dialogue on Climate Change and Mental Health
On March 29, ecoAmerica, Climate for Health, and the American Psychological Association released a new report, "Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of March 26 to April 1
It was hard to miss President Trump’s Executive Order on March 28, which essentially “repealed and replaced” the Obama Clean Power Plan and its strict...
Get to Know a Climate Champion: Chelsea Schafer
During its Annual Meeting & Expo last fall, the American Public Health Association and Climate for Health’s parent organization, ecoAmerica, held the first-ever Learning Institute:...
Inspiring the Next Generation of Physicians to Prioritize Climate Change as a Health Issue
Climate change is an issue that is increasingly impacting the health of our population, as we see the far-reaching and sometimes drastic effects take hold....
Year of Climate Change and Health: ‘Clean energy’ is focus for March
This post first appeared on APHA's Public Health Newswire 2017 is the Year of Climate Change and Health, a 12-month APHA-led initiative to raise awareness...
Local Engagement on Climate Solutions Makes Big Impacts
Our research and experience tell us the best way to inspire broad engagement and public support on climate across a large swath of Americans is...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of Feb. 25-Mar. 3
The Climate & Health Meeting in Atlanta on February 16 brought together more than 300 health professionals, scientists, climate advocates, and public officials for a...
Nevertheless, They Persisted: Resuscitating a National Climate and Health Teach-In
Our nation’s leading climate and health experts (as far as we know) did not go so far as appropriating the now iconic phrase, “s/he persisted,”...
Climate for Health & Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments to Collaborate on Climate Solutions
For 15 consecutive years, an annual Gallup poll has found that nursing is the most trusted profession in America. Some 84 percent of the public...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of February 12-18, 2017
Last week's Climate Change and Health Meeting dominated headlines. Hosted by former Vice President Al Gore, the event was held on February 16 at the...
How Are Professional Societies Engaging Their Members on Climate Change?
From architecture to medicine to water management, many professional organizations are already educating their members on issues related to climate change. But given its impacts...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of February 5-11, 2017
In climate politics, there's much speculation about what Congress and the President may or may not do. Government veterans have been weighing in on what...
Science, Society, and Our Children’s Future
Richard Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., is a pediatrician and a professor of environmental health sciences and urban planning at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health,...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of January 29-February 4, 2017
With 22 executive actions taken in his first two week in office, President Trump has been pushing dramatic policy changes, even as Congress moved quickly...
Climate for Health Partnering with American Public Health Association to Promote the “Year of Climate Change and Health”
On January 12, 2017, the American Public Health Association (APHA) launched its Year of Climate Change and Health (YOCCH) to raise awareness of the health...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of January 22-28, 2017
Few missed the drama of President Trump’s first week in office, which included a temporary freeze on science communications from federal agencies and the pre-emptive...
How Regional Carbon-Cutting Efforts Improve Public Health
Residents of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are healthier these days, thanks to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). According to a new, independent analysis...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of January 15-21, 2017
The news was sobering during a week that began with Congress' moves to repeal Obamacare and culminated in the inauguration of a President who denies...
Taking Action On Climate Change: Huge Opportunities for Global Health Improvements
This week's guest authors are Phil Polakoff M.D., a consulting professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and executive producer/host of A HEALTHIER ME,™ a...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of January 8-14, 2017
This week, one of President Obama’s last, was heavy on politics. The Commander in Chief took final acts on behalf of the environment, and Congress...
Walking: A Simple “Step” for Human and Climate Health
Sun, rain, or snow, walking is an eco-friendly form of exercise most people can do throughout their lifetime. According to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy,...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of December 31-January 7
We don't want you to miss a thing when it comes to climate and health news. And now we're including the reporters' names so you...
Speaking Through Your Spending: Fossil Fuel Divestment & the Health Care Field
Donald Trump is under pressure to divest himself of his business holdings, which may create a conflict of interest once he is President. As the...
Climate and Health News: Top Stories for the Week of December 23-30
New year, new feature! We know how busy health professionals are, so each Monday morning, the Climate for Health blog will catch you up by...
How Transforming Public Spaces Can Improve Health & Tackle Climate Change
The effects (and causes) of climate change affect everyone the world over. But exactly how they will affect our health, and to what extent, depends...
Coming Together: A Vision for 2017
As 2016 draws to a close, the United States is being pulled in two directions. As signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement, we are committed...
For Dr. Susan Pacheco, Climate Care Is Health Care
Ten years ago, Dr. Susan Pacheco, a pediatric immunologist/allergist at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, was concerned about the...
American Leaders to Trump: U.S. Must Look Forward, Not Backward on Climate Change
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to reverse much of the progress our nation has made on climate. His recent appointment of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott...
New Ways to Engage U.S. Latinos on Climate and Health
One of ecoAmerica’s major goals for 2017, according to president Bob Perkowitz, is to “ramp up discussion on climate equity with our partners” and to...
5 Areas Where Changes to Environmental Laws May Affect Climate & Health
During the Thanksgiving holiday, you may have had a chance to discuss climate change and the recent elections at gatherings with family and friends (or...
ANHE’s New e-Textbook Features Climate Guidance for Nurses
Since its founding in 2008, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), a member organization of Climate for Health, has been fulfilling a mission...
Climate for Health Plays a Big Role at Major Public Health Conference
Climate for Health just returned from another invigorating American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting. This year’s conference, held at the Colorado Convention Center in...
While Countries Negotiate, We Can Communicate
Ready, set, heal the planet! Jonathan Pershing, Ph.D., the United States’ special envoy for climate change, is now in Marrakech, Morocco, one of the official...
Storms’ Health Effects Open Opportunities for Climate Action
The fourth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy on October 29 was a sobering reminder of the unique professional and personal challenges faced by health professionals who...
How Extreme Weather, Health, and Communities Connect
Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, is a Professor at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. A pediatrician, he has...
3 Reasons Why Climate Solutions Offer Ways to Address Children’s Health
When we think of climate change, the images we conjure up often have to do with melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and severe drought. These...
How Advocates of the Environment Have Become Champions of Public Health
Air pollution has obvious impacts on our environment. Its effects on our forests, lakes and rivers are not new. Remember acid rain? Burning of fossil...
Politics Aside: 3 Ways to Focus on Climate and Health During Election Season
In this politically heated time of year, many of us are tired of finger pointing, name-calling and divisiveness. Let’s get real: a mild case of...
Symposium Geared Toward Health Professionals Focuses on Climate Change and the Growing Risk of Nuclear War
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), one of Climate for Health's partners, has been working for more than 50 years to create a healthy, just and...
Short Film Highlights a Movement of Health Professionals Addressing Climate Change for the Sake of Public Health
Health Care Without Harm, one of Climate for Health's partners, aims to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a...
September 30th Webinar Offers Health Professionals Strategies to Talk about Climate Change
On September 30th from 1pm to 2pm ET, our research team will present a free webinar to give attendees and in-depth look at our new communications guide,...
8 Ways to Enhance Your Knowledge About Climate Health
Climate change is altering our environment and, subsequently, our health. From increased rates of seasonal allergies and asthma to expanding the reach of vector-borne diseases,...
The Top 5 Reasons You Won’t Want to Miss Our Learning Institute
This year’s American Public Health Association Annual Meeting will take place in Denver from October 29 - November 2. Learning Institutes are half- or full-day...
Dr. Mollie Marti on Building Resilience to Climate Challenges
Mollie Marti, PhD, JD, is President and CEO of the nonprofit National Resilience Institute with a mission of growing human resilience before, during, and after...
The Climate Movement Can Use Your Creative Approaches to Action
Never underestimate the value of your ideas. It’s easy to discount the whimsical thoughts that may pass through our heads while exercising, taking a shower,...
When it Comes to Water, Minimizing Climate Impacts is Critical for Human Health
It’s easy to be fooled that warmer winters and less rainfall are some of climate change’s more pleasant outcomes. Who doesn’t love rain-free picnics and...
Dr. Susan Clayton on How Climate Change Affects Mental Health
Dr. Susan Clayton is an environmental psychologist and chair of the environmental studies program at the College of Wooster in Ohio, and co-author of the...
Making Green Ribbon Schools as American as Apple Pie
In the heat of mid-summer, many of us partake in the time-honored tradition of heading to a state or county fair to ogle over the...
Dr. Lise Van Susteren On How Climate Changes Mental Health
Dr. Lise Van Susteren is an American psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, DC with a special interest in the psychological effects of climate change....
Dr. Richard Jackson on Healthy Community Design and Transportation
Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, is a Professor at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. A pediatrician, he has...
Health Leaders Turn Up the Heat on Climate Literacy
The hills of Kern County were ablaze last week as wildfires swept across California's breadbasket, the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Brought on by severe heat...
A Common Vision: Why Fighting Climate Change Can Unite a Diverse Set of Sectors
The average scientist and clergyman may not, on the surface, seem to have a whole lot in common. It’s possible they have vastly different viewpoints...
Our Moral Obligation: The Duty to Warn… and to Act
Dr. Lise Van Susteren is an American psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, DC with a special interest in the psychological effects of climate change....
What Inspires You? How to Take Advantage of Your Personal Interests to Motivate for Change
Recently, a 12-year-old ukulele player named Grace VanderWaal appeared on America’s Got Talent and performed what I would call one of the most beautiful original...
The Stories Are Real: How Climate Change Impacts Children’s Lives
A recording of Climate for Health’s second webinar in our four-part series, “Making the Connection: Climate Changes Children’s Health,” jointly hosted by the American Public...
Matters of the Heart: How Working to Alleviate Air Pollution Can Reduce Heart Disease
Putting Their Heart into It For decades, teams of environmental advocates have worked tirelessly to raise concerns about air pollution with local policymakers, in Washington,...
Health Protected with New Methane Standards is a First Step Towards Needed Controls on All Wells
Kathy Attar is the Toxics Program Manager at Physicians for Social Responsibility. She holds a Masters in Public Health degree from UCLA. Last week, the...
All Children Have the Right to a Clean Environment
If you’re a parent, you’ve heard your child exclaim something in life “isn’t fair”; the portion of ice cream, the amount of time on the...
Overcoming the Psychological Barriers for Climate Action
We all have our idiosyncrasies. People are quirky, and the way we operate is not always rational or deliberate. Some of us know exercise is...
Making the Connection: Climate Changes Health
Despite well-researched reports showing that climate change is affecting health right now in America, only about 1/3 of Americans are aware of the risks. Most...
We All Care About the Same Thing
In America, our diversity defines us. The “melting pot” created from our heterogeneous population is what makes our country unique. With varying ethnic backgrounds,...
APHA and ecoAmerica Begin Four-Part Webinar Series on Climate Change and Health
From May through June, the American Public Health Association and ecoAmerica will co-sponsor a four-part webinar series entitled "Making the Connection: Climate Changes Health". The...
3 Ways in Which Climate Change Impacts the Health of the Poor
Though the polar bear on an iceberg remains the iconic image of global warming, it's clear that the impacts from climate change on the human...
New Study Reveals What Drives People to Act on Climate Change
According to a new study in Nature Climate Change, highlighting personal risk from climate change and the consequences of inaction offer the most motivating evidence...
Health Partnerships Grow to Statewide Coalitions for Clean Energy
They say politics breed strange bedfellows. Evidently, good ideas breed new allies. Across the country, burgeoning coalitions in many states have come together in support...
Calling All Creative Thinkers: Need Smart Ways to Create Energy in Order to Protect Health
Desperate times call for desperate measures and, given the state of our global climate, it seems we need to dig deep to create a viable...
The Benefits of Curbing Air Pollution You Probably Haven’t Considered
A recent conference at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) entitled "BREATHE" outlined the high costs of air pollution alongside the tremendous benefits...
Sharing Call: “Greening the Operating Room”
"As hospitals across the country look for ways to reduce environmental impact, it makes sense to start with the departments that have the largest environmental...
Why Clean Energy is Critical for Our Children’s Healthy Future
"By using more clean energy, we also avoid some very dangerous health threats, particularly for those who are most vulnerable - our children," writes Dr....
National Scientific Assessment Reveals Need for Climate Action to Protect Human Health
An assessment by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), called for under President Obama's Climate Action Plan and released earlier this week, discusses the...
How Working to Alleviate Climate Impacts Can Reduce the Need for Genetically Engineered Foods
According to a new study published in Nature Climate Change, several key crops will be drastically affected, if not made extinct, by climate change. The...
Minnesota’s Health Care Community Joins Together for a Healthy Climate
In March, a group of 125 Minnesota physicians, nurses, public health professionals and students delivered a letter to Minnesota’s legislators. The letter urged senators and...
Why Climate Action Leads to a “Virtuous Circle” of Positive Results
Working on climate solutions is not all sunshine and rainbows. Health professionals who take on climate work have strategies to develop, teams to build, and...
Tweet Tweet: A Little Birdy Wants to Tell You About National Public Health Week 2016 Twitter Chat
National Public Health Week 2016 Twitter Chat (#NPHWchat) — Wednesday, April 6 at 2PM — This year, the American Public Health Association (APHA) will...
What Will Global Warming Do to Our Diets and Waistlines?
Recent news explains why a vegetarian diet is most ideal for our environment, and for stemming climate change. But how about the reverse? What will...
How to Get the Ear of Key Leaders When Talking About Climate Health
The upcoming National Climate Assessment, the guiding document for federal, state and local climate policy in this country, must be crafted carefully with key listeners...
Introducing a New Type of Medical Practice: Climate Change Care
So long are the days when medical care was limited to addressing broken legs and fevers. Now, climate change is also a medical matter. Health...
Bold Climate Action Needed from Health Care Sector as Extreme Weather Becomes ‘New Normal’
Last week, on World Meterological Day and in recognition that extreme weather has become the new normal, the United Nations encouraged bold action on climate...
Why a Vegetarian Diet Can Improve our Economy and Environment
If Americans consumed less meat, we'd be less obese and generally healthier. These improvements would lead us to economic savings from healthcare costs, says a...
WHO Study Says 23 Percent of Deaths Are Linked to Pollution and Are Avoidable
A recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that 23 percent of deaths that occur each year, affecting nearly 12.6 million people, are...
How to Address the Clear Line Between Climate Impacts and Gentrification
A new report released by Puget Sound Sage and Got Green, based on interviews with 175 residents and 30 organizations, reveals that the poor and...
Presentation: How Climate Change Will Affect Public Health and the Practice of Medicine in Maryland
As the challenges of our changing climate increasingly affect human health, schools of public health and medicine must begin to weave lessons in about how...
Health Professionals Protect the Climate, Press for Clean, Healthy Renewable Energy
Barbara Gottlieb is the Director of Environment & Health for Physicians for Social Responsibility Progress to slow the pace of climate change is uneven, and...
A Prescription for Healthy Future
An increasing number of nurses and doctors around the country understand the overlaps between climate change and public health. As nurse Jan VanRiper, director of...
Pollution Reductions Mean Healthier, Longer Lives and Financial Gains
What would America pay to prevent 300,000 lives in the next 15 years? You may, instead, want to turn this question around to ask: How...
What the Zika Virus Represents About Our Changing Climate and Health
The impact of climate change on global temperatures is wreaking havoc on our environment. Last week's record of more than two degrees Celsius above “normal”...
What Can Joining Climate for Health Do For You?
Climate for Health is a national initiative led by a diverse network of health leaders from across the health sector representing key health care, public...
Study Reveals Interaction of Maternal Asthma and Air Pollution on Preterm Birth
A sizeable new study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology reveals the overlap between women with asthma and their significantly increased chances of...
How Practitioners Can Put Paris Climate Plans into Action
The climate negotiations in Paris were a wonderful way to jumpstart climate solutions. But they were only just that: a start. Now, those of us...
Prevention Advisory Group Forms Resolution Acknowledging Impact of Climate Change on Health
The National Prevention Council, chaired by the Surgeon General, has created an Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. This Presidentially...
To Everything There Is a Season. So What Happens When Allergy Season Doesn’t End?
As Bill McKibben writes in his op-ed below, last week's temperature readings across the northern hemisphere read two degrees Celsius above “normal” for the first...
Why Public Health Professionals Ought to Care About Fracking
With all the recent talk of California's Porter Ranch, methane leaks have become a hot topic. When a problem this big arises out of thin...
How Climate Action Can Ensure Reliable Access to Affordable, Nutritious Food
A study published in The Lancet last week finds that climate change could account for more than 500,00 deaths in 2050 because it creates a...
How Climate Change’s Impact on Public Health Is a Human Rights Issue
A recent issue of the Annals of Global Health explores the health implications of climate change. In the issue, the authors encourage action to help...
The Financial and Health Benefits of Supporting Climate Solutions
Acrosss the country, public health professionals, parents, professors and physicians are mobilizing to show their support for the Clean Power Plan. This, following an announcement...
The Role that Mental Health Experts Can Play In Encouraging Sustainable Living
As Climate for Health leader and well-known psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren recently explained in our leader spotlight, climate change is having significant adverse impacts on...
How Hospitals Can Reduce Their Carbon Footprints
Hospitals generate greenhouse gases in a variety of ways. Their energy and food choices, the supplies they use, the structures they build, and the waste...
Climate-Smart Transit Choices Create Healthy Bodies
It just so happens that climate solutions are healthy body solutions. And I'm not just talking in terms of general atmospheric improvements from CO2 reductions...
Why Health Practitioners Should Leave No One Behind When It Comes to Climate Change
The impacts that climate change has and will continue to have on human health are broad and diverse. Some regions will be hit harder and...
How Reducing Emissions Can Save Society Money, Partially By Protecting Health
This week, a new study in Nature Climate Change finds that by eliminating dangerous particulates and gases, policies that focus on vehicle and power plant...
Increasing Temperatures, Increasing Health Risks
In Los Angeles, climate change is predicted to warm by an average of five degrees in the next thirty-five years. Extreme heat, which accounts for...
The Majority of Americans Want Climate Action: How Health Professionals Can Lead The Way
The time is ripe for transformative climate action: the latest University of Texas Energy Poll shows that the majority of Americans want action against climate...
Children Need a Strong Clean Power Plan
As a pediatrician, I take care of kids. I help keep them healthy by diagnosing illness, protecting them from injury and counseling their parents on...
How Healthcare Leaders Can Protect Our Vulnerable Communities
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just identified twelve areas with high levels of sulfur dioxide pollution. Sulfur dioxide is emitted by coal plants, and...
The Link Between Coal and Respiratory Diseases
Health leaders know that asthma and lung cancer are linked to air pollution. In states that are heavily reliant on coal power, air pollution is...
How Healthy Eating Can Make Our Planet Healthier
Eating right has obvious health benefits – after all, you are what you eat. By eating with our health in mind (less processed foods, more...
Why Climate for Health and Our Partners Call for the Clean Power Plan to Proceed
Last week's Supreme Court's decision to put a stay on the Clean Power Plan will be detrimental to human health and the climate. This is...
Passionate About Greening the Health Sector? Apply to Be the Next CleanMed Keynote Speaker
At this year's annual CleanMed conference, two of Climate for Health's partner organizations, Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm, will introduce an entirely new...
The Dermatological Impacts of Air Pollution
The sun is not the only cause of skin discolorations. A new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reveals that nitrogen dioxide (NO2)...
NOAA’s Climate and Health Webinar, Now Archived for Viewing
The NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project (CSEP) recently presented Getting Personal, Getting Real: Health in the Teaching of Climate & Earth Science via webinar, which...
Why Health Institutions Will Soon Have No Reason Not to Use Renewable Energy
While the number of health facilities using renewable energy have increased in recent years, there are still many that have yet to take the plunge....
Dr. Lise Van Susteren, Psychiatrist, Tackles Climate Change in the Field of Mental Health
Climate for Health's leaders represent a diverse set of professions. From public health to nursing and environmental health, leaders in the health sector have emerged...
Why Health Practitioners Should be Paying Attention to the California Gas Leak
The California gas leak is not just a problem in terms of its odor. It is literally making people sick. Local residents have reported headaches,...
Why the AAP Believes in the Clean Power Plan
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is dedicated to ensuring that children have an optimal environment in which to live, learn, and play. It's no...
What the Zika Virus Has to Do with Climate Change
With all the talk about the Zika virus lately, and the World Health Organization's having declared the outbreak a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern"...
Coming Together in Faith on Climate Videos: Sustenance for Our 2016 Climate Journey
Like most sectors of society, the health sector is made up of a diverse group of individuals from many walks of life. From doctors and...
How Improving the Health of Soil Can Improve Community Health
By the time medical students have completed school, they are well aware of the basic interconnections between nature and humanity. On its own, nature does...
How to Plan for Health in the Long-Term in Light of Climate Change
The 2016 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting was recently held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, and touched upon many issues surrounding climate change and sustainability. To ensure...
February 1 Webinar: Health in the Teaching of Climate and Earth Science
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Stewards Education Project welcomes Dr. John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Advisor for Public Health to the Director...
The Unique Opportunity that Clinicians Have to Frame Climate as a Health Imperative
In the most recent Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Howard Koh from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hits the proverbial...
Are New England Health Professionals Ready to Address Threats Associated With Climate Change?
When we envision the impacts of climate change many of us think of small islands in distant places. We don't always associate colder regions with...
A Sign that Climate Change is Becoming Mainstream in the Medical Community
"Climate change" used to sound political. Now, it has become a factual, mainstream topic. Even the medical community has assimilated it into its messaging. Just...
Why Health Professionals Have an Obligation to Protect Poor Communities from Coal Ash
If you look at environmental exposures, low income and minority communities receive more coal ash, a result of burning coal, which is often laden with...
Gundersen Health System Honored for Work Addressing Patient and Environmental Health
As the climate crisis continues to worsen Global Green and Healthy Hospitals has organized a 2020 Healthcare Climate Challenge to mobilize health care around the...
America Public Health Association Formally Releases Their Statement on Climate Change
With the new year comes new understandings and new frames. The American Public Health Association (APHA) recently released their new policy entitled "Public Health Opportunities...
January 25 Webinar: Health Voices for the Clean Power Plan
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), one of Climate for Health's organizational partners, will be hosting a webinar entitled "Health Voices for the Clean Power Plan"...
On National Climate Leadership, Health Experts are Influential
Billionaire Tom Steyer is crusading to get Barack Obama to heed his message that climate change should be front and central in national policy discourse....
Why Working Toward Climate Solutions Offers Better Health at a Lower Cost
This week's Health Affairs Blog, which we've incorporated below, is one that all health care providers should read. It offers perspectives from the CEOs of...
The Primary Reason We Should Avoid Fracking
A new report by the Yale School of Public Health reveals more than 200 toxins can be found in fracking fluids and wastewater, in addition...
Americans Agree That Climate Action is Needed: Now, Let’s Act
A recent Monmouth University poll found that not only do the majority of Americans believe in climate change, but are in favor of government action...
Why the Clean Power Plan is Truly a Health Initiative
For busy health professionals, it's fairly easy to turn a blind eye to issues that don't pertain directly to medicine or fall within the realm...
How to Tackle Climate-Related Diseases Before They Hit
Evidently, a substantial increase in disease-carrying mosquitos is expected in California this year, as the Los Angeles Times reports below. We hate to break it...
Why Health Professionals Shouldn’t Make Climate Change So Personal
Climate change discussions don't just roll off the tongue. Not if you don't want to pick an argument or depress someone, that is. So how...
How Food Policy Could be the Most Overlooked Climate Solution
Three times a day we look right at a climate solution and don't see it. Mealtime. Food policy likely offers the biggest bang for the...
For Buildings, Healthy is the New Green
What's good for the earth is good for us. So it won't surprise you that sustainable buildings have health benefits for the people who work...
ecoAmerica’s 11 Biggest Milestones of 2015
2015 was an incredible year for the climate movement, with leaders in every sector speaking out and demanding climate action. ecoAmerica continued to empower those...
3 Practical Lessons Health Professionals Can Glean From Keystone
2015 was an important year for climate action, and one of the most significant climate achievements was the defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline. After...
Some Reasons for Health Professionals to Have Hope for the Climate
When Climate Central asked climate experts why they had hope for the climate, most of them pointed to the United Nations' Paris agreement that occurred...
Why Making Methane Leaks from Gas Development Visible is a Critical Step Toward Bettering Health
Called the largest public health disaster in Los Angeles, California, the recent discovery of a tremendous methane leak at the Porter Ranch storage facility illustrates...
2015: We’ve Heard the Bells for Climate Action
At a recent holiday concert in Maine, Portland Symphony Orchestra conductor Robert Moody ended the event with a song filled with melancholy, despair and ultimately...
No Snow for Christmas in the Big Apple: The Health Implications of Mismatched Weather
Preparing for a final round of 2015 work travel, I pulled down my suitcase and, before selecting my wardrobe, conferred with my personal assistant. “Hey...
Why Every Hospital Should Develop a Climate Plan
Diseases related to air pollution kill seven million people annually, accounting for one in every eight deaths globally every year, according to the World Health...
One of the Nation’s Largest Health Systems Takes the Climate Pledge
Big things are happening. And when big things happen, big leaders follow. On Friday, Dignity Health, one of the nation's largest health systems, announced that...
Why Nuclear Power is Not a Healthy Solution to Climate Change
Houston, we've got a problem. And if the former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is calling the bluff of the nuclear industry, we know...
6 Steps that Health Professionals Can Take to Follow Through With the Paris Agreement
This past weekend, representatives of 195 nations reached a landmark accord that will collectively reduce carbon emissions. Most notably, the COP21 Paris agreement demonstrated an...
Why We Should See Community Health Perks from the Climate Accord
The recent climate accord offers us hope. Reacting to the COP21 agreement, Bill McKibben, Co-founder of 350.org, said “This didn’t save the planet but it...
For the Heart, Not all Types of Carbon Pollution are Created Equal
When it comes to cardiovascular health, it turns out that all types of carbon pollution are not created equal. A recent study, focusing on information...
Paris, Day 6: Developing Climate Solutions Focused on Good Business and Sustainability
Peggy Knudson, ecoAmerica's VP of Development, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. She is talking with climate leaders, many of whom...
Paris, Day 5: How One Leader is Taking COP21 to the Streets to Improve Community Health
This week, Peggy Knudson, ecoAmerica's VP of Development, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. She will be talking with climate leaders,...
Paris, Day 4: The Power of Storytelling in the Climate Dialogue
This week, Peggy Knudson, ecoAmerica's VP of Development, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. She will be talking with climate leaders,...
Paris, Day 3: The Role of Higher Education in Climate Health Progress
This week, Peggy Knudson, ecoAmerica's VP of Development, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. She will be talking with climate leaders,...
Paris, Day 2: Latinos Represent One of the Many Voices of Climate Action
This week, Peggy Knudson, ecoAmerica's VP of Development, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. She will be talking with climate leaders,...
Paris, Day 1: My Conversation with John Balbus of the National Institute of Environmental Health Services
This week, Peggy Knudson, ecoAmerica's VP of Development, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. She will be talking with climate leaders,...
How Health Professionals Can Help to Limit Climate’s Impacts on Women
In the thick of the discussions surrounding the United Nations climate conference, those of us who care about the subjects of health and climate change...
New Research Reveals 5 Clear Messages for Health Professionals on Effective Climate Communication
In November, ecoAmerica, Climate for Health's parent organization, released its latest research report, Let’s Talk Climate: Messages to Motivate Americans. Along with Lake Research Partners,...
Define “Environmentalist”. Are You One?
In a handful of paragraphs, Emma Foehringer Merchant lullingly captures the past few decades of the environmental movement in her New Republic article below. How...
Why Health Experts Should Push for Information on Fracking
Some forms of energy are, well, not as healthy as others. The public's catching on to the differences between energy choices, and the health impacts...
Join a Climate & Health Live Stream from Paris: December 2nd
The U.S. Center is a major public outreach initiative of the United States hosted by the Department of State to inform audiences around the world...
Report Says a World Powered by Wind, Water and Sunlight Is Possible by 2050
Researchers at Stanford University and the Universities of California analyzed energy roadmaps for 139 countries to see how much energy each country would need by...
Giving Thanks for Environmental Health Advocates
In a world facing disease, poverty, destruction and violence, it's often hard to see the positive side of life. Certainly we know that there are...
When Health Professionals Take Environmental Action
Do health professionals have civic responsibilities? With limited time, can we expect doctors and nurses to advocate for clean energy policies? When during the course...
Are Declining Sex Lives and Fertility Underexplored Costs of Climate Change?
A recent study by economics departments at Tulane University, the University of Central Florida and the University of California, Santa Barbara and published by the...
To Change Behavior on Climate Change, First Learn Key Psychological Lessons
Health professionals, for good reason, are concerned about the impact that climate change will have on our families, health and future. We know that action...
Why Doctors Must Begin Including Pollution in Patient Diagnosis
The Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry believes doctors have an obligation to take into account the right for people who are ill to fully...
Why You Should Support the EPA’s Proposed Rule to Curb Fracking Pollution
Moms Clean Air Force is a community of moms and dads united against air pollution, including the broader climate crisis, for the purpose of protecting...
How I Met My Latest “Climate Crush” Ed Begley, Jr. at the APHA Annual Meeting
One night a few weeks ago, I was preparing to depart for Chicago for four days of nearly 24/7 public health events. I had just...
World Health Organization Calls for Health Professionals to Take Action in Addressing Climate Change
The World Health Organization (WHO) directs and coordinates international health within the United Nations’ system. It makes sense, then, that the worldwide organization has created...
To Protect Health from Climate Change, We Need the World’s Governments on Board
As we head toward the United Nation's Climate Talks in Paris, many wonder how many of the world's governments are even paying attention. Like a...
How the Fate of Our Future Will Be Negotiated at the Paris Climate Talks
In December of this year, the United Nations will hold a global scientific and political conference on climate change. More than 190 nations will gather...
How Climate Solutions Alleviate Poverty and Protect Health
Poverty wreaks havoc on human health. According to the World Health Organization, being poor increases a person's chance of being malnourished and getting sick due...
The Paris Conference on Climate Change and Health Care: Register Now
On December 4th, in parallel with the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), a group of health-focused organizations will be hosting the Paris Conference...
Why Clean Energy is a Cure to Cancer
Just about all of us know someone who's been affected by cancer. Many of us have lost friends and family members to the disease. It's...
Sign Up Now: First Free Online MOOC on Climate Change Policy and Public Health
Ever heard of a MOOC? In case you haven't, MOOCs are "massive open online courses" aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web....
The Importance of Empowering Communities to Achieve Environmental Justice and Health
What do local clean power ordinances, pollution controls, public transport and urban agriculture have in common? You could argue they are all goals that focus...
Why More Deaths Occur in the Cold Than in the Hot Weather
Heat waves are killer. As health professionals we know the disastrous affects they have on our populations considering heat-related deaths. But did you know that...
How Lowering CO2 Levels Translates to Improved Human Cognition
A new study out of the Harvard School of Public Health reveals that there is a direct correlation between carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and human...
Why Our Energy Choices Have Everything to Do with Public Health
Recently, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy joined together with Physicians for Social Responsibility, one of Climate for Health's partners, to create a fact...
Climate Change is Driving Us Crazy: How Mental Health Plays into the Climate Picture
As the American Psychological Association will tell you, climate change has broad effects on people's health and psychological well-being, due to an increase in the...
Why the American Academy of Pediatrics Cares About Climate Change
Climate for Health is thrilled to announce the recent addition of the American Academy of Pediatrics to our roster of partnering organizations. The mission of...
Climate Change Will be Prominent at the APHA Annual Meeting
Join us in Chicago at the annual American Public Health Association meeting! While the APHA meeting will run between Oct. 31 and Nov. 4, 2015,...
How Climate Change Is Connected to the Health and Welfare of Our Children
We’ve all heard the phrase “Nothing is more important than a child’s health.” But as a mom unexpectedly navigating the pediatric medical system for the...
Another Reason Why Pediatricians Should be Concerned About Air Quality
Exposure to air pollution permanently stunts the growth of children's lungs, according to a 6-year study of 2,400 youth in London. The results of this...
The Probable Reason Why Carbon Nanotubes Have Been Found In Children’s Lungs
Carbon nanotubes, which are are tubular cylinders of carbon atoms, have been found in children's lungs for the first time. While carbon nanotubes are used...
5 Ways that Healthcare is Helping to Counter Climate Change
In his National Geographic interview of Australian author Tim Flannery below, Simon Worrall highlights the many positive actions that have been taken, and are helping,...
How One Doctor’s Interest in Preventative Medicine Led him to Climate Work
Dr. Barry Levy's childhood concerns about environmental destruction, coupled by his interest in preventative medicine, have led him to feel compelled about working to reduce...
Can You Help Us Take Bill Gates’ Lead and Create Innovative Climate Solutions?
Bill Gates believes that innovation's the only hope we have to combat climate change. If we stick with current technologies, we will simply continue running...
Why the Zero Waste Movement Goes Hand-in-Hand with a Healthier Future
Consumption is a tremendous environmental dilemma. You could argue it's our only one, because all waste, toxic and climate change issues are tied to it....
Why There’s No Difference Between Protecting the Environment and Protecting Human Health
The field of environmental health, which focuses on aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health, plays an increasingly evident role...
100+ New Studies in Compendium Reveal the Health Risks of Fracking
Last December, Gov. Cuomo's administration banned fracking in New York State, citing health risks. Though he received some pushback on this decision from industry and...
Why Odd Couples Coming Together for Climate Solutions May Be Best Bet to Achieving Success
Odd couples happen. You've been to your high school reunion and have probably seen evidence of this. Sometimes, the unexpected relationships become the stronger ones...
Let’s Go Viral: Health Professionals Use Social Media to Promote Climate Message
Social media has an unbelievable amount of power and, as we saw with the People's Climate March last year, can inspire and create large scale...
Why Climate Change May Threaten Your Annual Slice of Pumpkin Pie
The health effects of climate change are diverse, and hearing about odd sounding, new vector-borne diseases certainly isn't comforting. Reasonable or not, however, to many...
How to Green Your Healthcare Institution From Within
How can health professionals best communicate on climate change? By learning best communication techniques and speaking about what they know. As the Huffington Post article...
Sustainability Actions in Healthcare Work Best When Interconnected
Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, writes about the importance of interconnecting sustainability goals in her article below. It seems the impact of...
A Park Visit a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Nature has miraculous influences over human health. We are, after all, interconnected with our resources. Without clean water, air and exposure to sunlight, we would...
Less Rain and More Hot Days May Cause Low Birth Weights
Underweight infants, defined as under 5.5 pounds, face bigger hurdles in life, including higher rates of disabilities and greater susceptibilty to illness and mortality. This...
Why Your Doctor May Be the Greatest Climate Activist
Medical students across the globe are becoming increasingly aware and engaged in climate action. With all that they have on their plates during their years...
Clean Energy Saves Lives
This September, nearly 200 concerned and committed physicians, nurses, and healthcare and public health professionals from across the country came together in Washington D.C. for...
Climate for Health Leader Gary Cohen Receives MacArthur Genius Award
Gary Cohen understands the importance of getting healthcare institutions on board with long-term sustainability efforts. That is why he formed Health Care Without Harm in...
Why Exposure to Air Pollution Affects Children’s Health Disproportionately
With nearly $144 million in new grants, the National Institutes of Health is investing in new technologies that measure the impact of environmental exposures over...
If Climate Change is an Emergency, Medical Communities Must Prioritize It
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) will take place in Paris this December, in response to the growing global threat of climate change....
Why the Army’s Health Readiness May Be Hinging on Climate Change
Last week, the Association of the U.S. Army held a “Hot Topics” forum on health readiness in Arlington, Virginia. Ironically, one of the "hot topics"...
“You Get What You Pay For” When it Comes to Cheap Coal
When it comes to cheap coal, the health effects are costly. To consumers, purchasing the cheapest possible energy source may seem like the right move....
A Common Goal: Why Botanists and Healthcare Professionals Aim to Reduce Ozone Pollution
Bees play an essential part in maintaining a healthy environment. Even young children are learning about the important role bees play in nature. What happens,...
How the City of Cleveland is Addressing Climate and Health Inequality
It makes sense that the City of Cleveland is focused on issues that address the needs of the most challenged communities, since its poverty rates...
If Fracking Causes Illness, Then Health Experts Should Care About Fracking
A new study by the University of Missouri reveals that residents living near "unconventional oil and gas operations" were at a higher risk for endocrine-disruption...
Why It’s Our Moral Obligation as Health Professionals to Address Climate Change
Today, Pope Francis arrives to the United States with a climate change message for all to hear. No one knows exactly what his message will...
The American Mental Health Community Must Be Prepared for Climate Impacts
Dr. Lise Van Susteren, on Climate for Health's leadership circle, is an American psychiatrist with a special interest in the psychological risks posed by global...
Are We Allowing Unnecessary Exposure to Air Pollutants that Cause Heart Disease?
According to a recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, particulate matter known as PM 2.5, a common form of air pollution from tailpipe emissions...
Why the Wind Turbine has Become A Symbol for Many
Like the Statue of Liberty, a wind turbine stands proud and tall, waving into our future. To many, it has become a symbol of health...
Divesting from Fossil Fuels is a Good Start, But is it Enough to Address Health Threats from Climate Change?
As Jagdeep Singh Bachher explains in the the San Francisco Chronicle below, the University of California believes climate change is a risk factor and is...
Impressive Line-Up of Speakers and Sessions at Climate Health Summit this Week
Join the hundreds of health professionals gathering together this Sunday & Monday, Sept. 20-21, in Washington D.C. to learn about the health threats of climate...
Harvard Study Says Renewables Deliver Millions of Dollars in Benefits to Public Health Each Year
When fossil fuel emissions are displaced, the result is millions of dollars in public health benefits. This is the primary reason that energy efficiency measures...
Engaging Youth to Drive Climate and Health Solutions
At this point in time, most educated youth are well aware of the impacts that climate change has - and will have - on the...
New Environmental Justice Tool Offers Functional Way to Map Vulnerable Populations
The EPA has recently released a new environmental justice screening and mapping tool, called EJSCREEN. The tool is likely to be a help to a...
Why the Concurrence of Major Weather Events Has Exponential Impacts on Health
It turns out that when multiple climate extremes happen simultaneously the outcomes on human health are worse than we could imagine. As Ensia covers below,...
Air Pollution is A Civil Rights Issue: Here’s Why
It's no surprise that excessive rates of asthma occur in populations living near coal-fired power plants. This is one reason communities of color show heightened...
What We Can Learn from Hurricane Katrina
It has been 10 years since Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United...
Why Health Leaders Need to Know How to Communicate About Climate Change
So you care about climate change. But how do you talk about it? Communicating on climate may be the most critical step in addressing its...
Doctors Must be Part of a Solution to End the Use of Dirty Energy
Doctors across Canada have decided "enough is enough". It is no use for health professionals to continue treating the symptoms climate change alone when these...
Climate and Health Summit: It’s “Back-to-School” Time for Students and Health Professionals Alike
In our home, we’re admittedly a little heavy hearted bidding adieu to the “freedom months” (as my kids refer to summer), and swapping out beach...
How Breaking Poor Societal Habits May Be in the Hands of Health Professionals
We all know how hard it is to break a habit. If breaking personal habits are so challenging, it's no wonder that societal habits feel...
Nurses Speak Up as they Notice the Effects of Climate Change on their Patients
Nurses across the country can see the impacts of climate change on patient health. While many of these nurses are noticing these adverse health affects,...
The Main Reason Pediatricians Are Encouraged by the Clean Power Plan
Doctors across the country are noticing the effects of climate change on their patients. Sadly, it's pediatricians who are witnessing most of these climate impacts...
A New Environmental Health Tracking Tool We Think You’ll Find Helpful
Every so often Climate for Health recommends resources we think health professionals may find particularly useful. In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control, the...
Why Bridging Generation Gaps Can Address Climate and Health Solutions
As climate change hits home, it's not only our shorelines that are taking the hit. Increased risks of vector-borne diseases, heat-related deaths, allergies and environmentally-induced...
Health Professionals: Tell Your Story About Climate Change
Patients put a tremendous amount of trust into their health care providers. Some patients blindly follow a provider's advice, while others want to remain more...
New Study Points Out How Health Professionals in Coastal Regions Must Cope With Climate Impacts
Disaster preparedness professionals have every reason to focus on coastal impacts from climate change, particularly as the seas rise, the storms surge and the shorelines...
Health Professionals Take Note: A New E-Platform for Learning About Climate Change
Health professionals who want to engage in climate solutions need a way to learn about the latest tools and information to tackle it. The United...
How Climate for Health Leaders Are Helping to Green Healthcare
Contradictions are common practice in most industries but seem more disturbing when they strike us as glaringly obvious. That's how some health professionals feel when...
Want to Prevent More Stomach Bugs? Work Toward Preventing Climate-Related Sickness
As the climate warms, coastal areas are more prone to the devastating impacts of sea-level rise. Did you know, however, that these same seaside areas...
How Reducing Food Waste Also Serves the Purpose of Preventing Disease
Hospitals are always looking for ways to limit waste and improve efficiency. This is why collaboratives such as Global Green and Healthy Hospitals have been...
5 Ways for Health Professionals to Work Proactively on Climate Solutions
As most of us learned during our primary school years, negative attention doesn't accomplish as much as positive action. Most successful leaders will tell you...
Does Air Pollution Cross the Placental Barrier? New Study Aims to Find Out
Environmental factors can have strong affects on developing fetuses. In utero exposure to methylmercury is a prime example of this. A recent study in Environmental...
The Overlapping Moral Imperative Between Medicine, the Environment and Religion
In 1964, Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, modernized the Hippocratic Oath and his revision is used in many...
Sustainable Hospitals: One Terrific Sign that the Green Economy is Flourishing
"Greening" hospitals is a job of its own. In fact, many of Climate for Health's partner organizations, such as Health Care Without Harm and the...
What Healthcare Providers Can Do About Local Impacts from Climate Change
Dr. Janet Ho, chief resident in the Yale Primary Care program, says that local and national research shows climate change is a bigger health threat...
How Foundations and Donors Can Support a “Climate for Health”: A New Report
Philanthropic donors and foundations are often focused on improving public health and safety, reducing hunger and poverty, and caring for the disadvantaged – which is...
Health Professionals: Support the Newly Unveiled Clean Power Plan!
This week, President Obama rolled out an improved version of the long-awaited Clean Power Plan. Not only does the new plan suggest we move onto...
Preventing the Health Impacts of Climate Change
Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the country's largest public health association, and founding Climate for Health leader, speaks out on why health voices from across...
Health Organizations Will Join Worldwide Climate March on November 29
On November 29th, the People’s Climate March will take place in thousands of cities and towns across the world. This march will occur the day...
How Does Climate Change Have Disproportionate Impacts on Women’s Health?
Even in America, the poverty rate for women is higher than it is for men. Women in the U.S. are also more likely to be...
National Medical Association Holds Annual Convention in Detroit, Urges Members to Join Climate for Health
The National Medical Association (NMA) is the collective voice of African American physicians and the leading force for parity and justice in medicine and the...
Why the Healthcare Industry Must Go Green to Limit the Impacts From Climate Change
Green business is not only a trend, it's a modern-day necessity. These days, few businesses can survive without focusing on energy efficiency and, therefore, lowering...
Why You Should Give a Hoot About the Clean Air Act
The American Public Health Association - representing all fields of public health and with more than 140 years of institutional experience - is now working...
1,000 Health Professionals Join the National Environmental Health Association’s New Executive Director for Happy Hour
Dr. David Dyjack Joins the National Environmental Health Association as New Executive Director It was a toasty mid-July afternoon in Orlando and the convention center...
Nurses Propose a Faith-Health Alliance for Justice
Just as two parents with a unified message have more success disciplining their child, so do social movements who align themselves with each other. That's...
How Climate Change Can Threaten Zinc Deficiency
A new study in the Lancet points to the effects of increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on the global threat of zinc...
Study Says Costs of Tackling Climate Change are Worth It From Economic and Health Perspectives
A paper published by two research institutes at the London School of Economics substantiates the case that tackling climate change has benefits in terms of...
EPA Webinar Highlights Doctors, Friends and Family as Key Messengers for Climate Action
Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held the first of two webcasts in its Local Climate and Energy Program series. Outlined below, the webcast focused...
4 Key Messages from the Lancet Commission on Planetary Health
Last week, the Rockefeller Foundation, with the Lancet Commission on Planetary Health, released an important report that emphasizes the interconnections among climate change and other...
Climate for Health’s Dr. Linda Rudolph Testifies to the California Assembly
Last week, Dr. Linda Rudolph, one of Climate for Health's leaders, presented to the California Assembly Natural Resources Committee regarding the need to stop our...
Resources to Address Racism’s Role in Climate Health
This month, the American Public Health Association is beginning a series of webinars on racism's impact on health and disparities. Be sure to take a...
Research Shows that Green Hospitals Have Remarkable Benefits on Patient Health
It makes perfect sense that health care facilities aim to make an impact on the broader environment by procuring or producing renewable energy, minimizing waste,...
5 Top Recommendations as Agreed to By Health Leaders at 2015 Climate Summit
New Report: 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit: Path to Positive On May 20-21, ecoAmerica convened the 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit: Path to Positive, bringing together nearly...
Why Race Discussions Matter When it Comes to Climate Change’s Impact on Health
President Obama's Clean Power Plan presents a historic opportunity for the U.S. to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants, the single largest source of...
How Multiple Sectors of Society Are Reframing the Climate Conversation
What do a doctor, the President and the Pope have in common? They are all changing the framing of the climate change conversation by addressing...
Mental Health Professionals Needed to Counter Climate Impacts
Evidently, climate change has a significant impact on human psyches, as outlined in the recent Lancet report. No longer are the impacts limited to physical...
How Climate-Related Health Outcomes Are a Matter of Environmental Justice
As the environmental justice movement has pointed out for years, and the Pope just did in his recent encyclical, there is a direct relationship between...
Climate for Health Convening Outlines 8 Key Strategies for Engaging the Health Sector on Climate Solutions
In early April 2015, Climate for Health held its first National Leadership Convening, in partnership with Health Care Without Harm and the U.S. Climate and...
Research Shows Good Communication May be Most Important Climate Action of All
Public understanding of climate change could be an entire undergraduate study unto itself. Without a scientific background, most individuals absorb information on climate change over...
Why Your Political Party Has Nothing to Do with Your Interest in Climate Engagement
The notion that some types of people are inclined to support the science on climate change while others do not may have some merit, though,...
The Surprising Relationship Between Air Quality and Fracking
In a report released in the journal Environmental Health, co-authored by the Center for Environmental Health, air quality results surrounding fracking sites were found to...
Federal Climate Health Regulations Take 2 Steps Forward and 1 Step Back
The Obama administration has developed a strong agenda to combat climate change and is planning a series of actions this summer to reduce greenhouse gases....
Why Families Who Face Autism are Concerned About Their Local Power Plants
The cause of austism is a hotly debated and contentious issue. As we know, there are many contributers to developmental disorders -- some genetic, some...
Why Physicians and Environmentalists Are One and the Same
The overarching message of the recent Lancet report is that climate change is "the most serious threat to public health of the 21st century, while...
What are the Health Benefits of Climate Action? New EPA Report Outlines Many
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new report which outlines the costs and benefits of action and inaction on climate. This report crosses...
How to Train Your Doctor: Medical Schools Tackle Climate Education
Since climate change has significant health implications, it makes sense that nursing, medical and public health schools are now training students how to recognize these...
A Taste of Reality: A Hot Day at the White House Summit on Climate and Health
Although I’ve worked in Washington D.C. at the national level for years, a White House invitation still holds the thrill of scoring the quintessential “golden...
Study Finds Relationship Between Low Birth Weights and Climate Change
A joint study by an Israeli University (BGU) and Harvard University found that exposure to high air temperature during pregnancy increases the risk of lower...
Trying to Make Headway on Climate Solutions? Keep A Sense of Humor
There's nothing funny about asthma, allergies, tick-borne diseases or severe heat, but some suggest we ought to keep laughing about climate change if we want...
New Lancet Report: Climate Change is Biggest Health Threat and Greatest Health Opportunity of 21st Century
From a rise in respiratory ailments caused by pollution, to the spread of vector-borne diseases like West Nile Virus, climate change is having an increasingly...
Foundation Dollars Begin to Focus on Climate and Health Overlaps
Climate change's impacts on health have become impossible to ignore. From business to faith to education and environment, there is no sector of our society...
A Newly Discovered Association Between Children’s Cognitive Development And Green Spaces
You won't be surprised to hear that air pollution can negatively influence the cognitive development of children. But now there is growing evidence of a...
Sneezing and Wheezing? Climate Solutions May Mean Allergy Relief
The consequences of climate change are so tremendous that they impact oceans and weather patterns, droughts and deluges. How is it that climate impacts can...
Is Exercising in the City Like Smoking a Pack of Cigarettes?
Exactly how bad is our exposure to pollution when we exercise? An ongoing study by Columbia University, funded by the National Institutes of Health, focuses...
The Large Public Health Threat that No One Mentions
Power plants aside, what transportation sources come to mind when you think of contributors to air pollution? Cars, trucks and airplanes will likely pop up....
Why Climate Impacts May Weigh More Heavily on Women
There's no one on earth that won't experience the impacts of global warming. As researchers are finding, however, some populations are disproportionately impacted by it....
Do Medical Professionals Have a Moral Obligation to Reduce Carbon Emissions?
There are four specific reasons children are more vulnerable to global warming than adults, a new report by Doctors for the Environment Australia has found,...
Moms Across the Country Inspire Action for Clean Air
This spring, hundreds of mothers, parents and grandparents came together in 15 states over the course of four months for Moms Clean Air Force's Mama...
Climate for Health Partners Hold Summit this Fall to Create Health Leaders on Climate Change
An exciting climate and health summit will take place in Washington, DC this fall and is organized by many of Climate for Health's partner organizations,...
New EIA Report Underscores Why Clean Energy is the Only Route to Good Health
The Environmental Protection Agency is due to release its Clean Power Plan this August. Of course, "clean power" can be defined in many ways, depending...
How Hotter Temperatures Impact Human Behavior
Take away a young man's income stream and he's going to have a problem. Who wouldn't? Turns out there's a connection between crop yields and...
Why Health Institutions are Uniquely Positioned to Work On Climate Solutions
Eileen McNeely is the founder and Co-Director of the Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise (SHINE) at the Center for Health and the Global...
Climate Change Action Comes in Many Flavors
A student activist and a public health professional will see climate change from different angles. Their approaches will be quite different, too. This is why, from...
New Study Finds Link Between Air Pollution and Autism
Breathing in fine particulate air pollution known as PM 2.5 - which includes dust, dirt, soot and smoke - is known to cause inflammation that...
Free Opportunity for Nurses to Address Climate and Health
This month, Climate for Health's partner organization, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (AHNE), will be holding 4 trainings for nurses on climate change...
What if Our Plan for Air Conditioning Fails?
Let's be smart. As our climate warms, we need to keep cool. But if we don't plan accordingly we'll continue to face an increasing number...
How to Raise Public Health Spending Above Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Well, this is sick: As the EU Observer reports below, a study by four researchers from the International Monetary Fund "calculated the true costs of...
Towards a Healthier Future: Talking Climate With the Surgeon General at My Nephew’s Med School Graduation
Steering my relieved but excited sister, one beaming set of grandparents, my two sons, and my husband through the Metro system and into the George...
Why Fighting Climate Change is a Health Necessity
Let's face it: health and climate are inextricably linked. Public health officials have been combating its effects on patient populations, and the need to devote...
When it Comes to Health, A Little Environmental Regulation Can Go a Long Way
The natural world around us has tremendous influence over our health. The notion that the environment and human health are inextricably linked is now referred...
The Simplest Way to Help the Environment While Helping Yourself
Most of us know that a key to good health is healthy eating. But the very personal decisions about what to choose for each meal...
How to Nurture Public Health Through Sustainable Cities
Just as the Climate for Health program focuses on health leadership regarding climate change, another one of ecoAmerica's sectors, Path to Positive, focuses on climate...
Why Social Networking is the Key to Climate Resilience
You know how they say people with good support networks wind up being happier and healthier? This tends to be the case for communities, too....
Allergy Misery Loves Company (With Ozone and Smog Particles)
The Natural Resources Defense Council's released a new report last week: Sneezing and Wheezing: How Climate Change Could Increase Ragweed Allergies, Air Pollution, and Asthma....
Why Your Doctor Should Advocate for Higher Fuel Economy Standards
Do you exercise as much as you can squeeze into your busy life? Do you eat fresh fruits and veggies on a somewhat frequent basis?...
Top Environmental Leaders Emerge From Health Care Institutions
Climate for Health leaders are part of a broad environmental movement which has historically been comprised of, well, environmentalists. Now, environmental advocates are not only...
How We Know Climate Health Has Become Mainstream
You know a movement has become mainstream when government agencies support it. The EPA is now working fervently to raise awareness about the health impacts...
How to Ensure That Our Vehicles Drive Us Into A Healthy Future
Let's face it, many Americans aren't giving up their big cars anytime soon. We like choice. We like space. We have equipment to carry and...
How Research on Environmental Regulations Can Point to Public Health Improvements
In the first peer-reviewed scientific study on the foreseeable impacts of the EPA's landmark climate rule, researchers from Syracuse University and Harvard University say that,...
Next Gen of Health Professionals: Addressing Climate Impacts is Part of Job
So you want to be a health professional? Evidently, studying the human body is no longer your only quest. Climate change now presents the next...
What a Study of 83,672 Babies Reveals About Air Pollution Near You
A sizable study including 83,672 babies reveals that air pollution causes them to have lower birthweights, which can lead to health impacts years later. The...
Thirsty for Climate Solutions: How Climate Change Affects Our Water
Climate for Health partners with many well-established and highly respected organizations. One of them, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), won a 1985 Nobel Peace Prize...
Why Nuclear Energy is Not a Healthy Solution to Climate Change
It's incredible what people will do for money. Since 2012, the city of Carlsbad, New Mexico has been trying to persuade members of Congress to...
Survey Results Show Oil and Gas Industry Professionals Are Also Concerned About Climate Change
Health is not the only sector of society worried climate change. It turns out, even oil and gas industries are concerned. In an opinion survey...
How Is Climate Change Affecting the Health of Low Income Americans?
Across the country, low income residents face higher rates of diseases, disabilities, and adverse health conditions. Since low income communities are often communities with people...
Hospitals Take Health to a New Level: Outside Their Walls
The organization Global Green and Healthy Hospitals sets out to support existing efforts around the world to promote greater sustainability and environmental health in the...
The Most Important Step to Improving Human and Environmental Health
If you have poked around on Climate for Health's website, you may have come across a series of tips and tools we provide for health...
New CDC Report Discusses How to Adapt to Climate Change to Avoid Disease and Injury
To guide the nation’s public health workforce in preparing for climate change, CDC has developed a unique framework known as BRACE, or Building Resilience Against...
Why 3 out of 4 Doctors Say Climate Change Is Already Affecting Patients’ Health
Surveys of physicians from a climate change research center and three major medical societies recently revealed notable findings about how climate change is affecting patients'...
How Bringing Down the Planet’s Fever Can Keep Us Out of the Sickbed
The health consequences of global warming are vast and diverse. From the spread of vector-borne diseases to increased incidences of asthma, allergies and mental health...
Why Persistant Organic Pollutants Have Everything to Do with Your Health
There is a plethora of links between environment causes and human disease. The environment has a major impact on our health and public health professionals...
A Moral Imperative To Lead on Climate – 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit
On Tuesday, Pope Francis sent out a call to care for creation as a matter of caring for all of humanity (via Twitter!). His Papal Encyclical...
On Earth Day, a Reminder that What is Good for the Environment is Good for Your Health
In recognition of Earth Day, Climate for Health would like to acknowledge the leaders who have taken action to protect our health and communities from...
An Essential Step to Ensuring Food Security and Water for All
In a joint report released last week, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the the World Water Council say that by 2015 "some 60...
Using the FitBit Model to Create Climate Solutions in Health Care
Dr. Linda Rudolph has worked for decades for better living and working conditions, to support health and prevent illness, and for better healthcare to meet...
A New Way for Medical Professionals To Be Environmental Stewards for Positive Change
A new white paper paper released by Health Care Without Harm makes the health, economic, and theological arguments for coal divestment. Crossing sectors, the paper...
Why Fossil Fuels are Wreaking Havoc on Hormones and Health
Gasoline additives that are emitted into the air during combustion may disrupt people's hormone systems at low levels considered previously safe, say researchers from The...
Balancing the Scale: How Clean Energy Leads to Health Equity
The environmental justice movement was created to ensure that all people receive the same protection from environmental and health hazards. Considering the poorest U.S. citizens...
A Call for Health Professionals to Chime in on the Impacts of Climate Change
Calling all health professionals! A report expected to be released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program in early 2016 will provide needed context for...
How Does the Precautionary Principle Apply to the Climate Movement?
The precautionary principle, though most commonly referred to by policy makers, gets to the heart of what the health sector aims to achieve: prevention. The...
National Health and Government Leaders Focus on the Link Between Climate and Health
Last week, ecoAmerica’s Climate for Health program (including co-sponsors Health Care Without Harm and the U.S. Climate and Health Alliance) gathered over 70 leaders from...
America Speaks: What the White House Has to Say About Climate Change and Public Health
This week, President Obama brought attention to the many links between climate change and public health threats. In the below CNN interview by Dr. Sanjay...
Climate for Health Celebrates National Public Health Week
As the health effects of climate change become more evident among human populations, we have no choice but to adapt to these present and future...
Why We Don’t Have to Choose Between a Healthy Environment and a Health Economy
Despite big polluter supported messaging that carbon standards would raise prices, Green for All's 2014 "Climate Change and Communities of Color" poll found that 76...
How to Prevent a Frack Attack (and Why Fracking is a Matter of Public Health)
Medical professionals have the best reason to focus on eliminating dirty sources of energy. Ultimately, these are the very sources that cause their patients to...
How Medical Professionals Can Address Human Rights Via Climate Change
When a physician treats a patient, she does so with a fundamental appreciation for the life of that individual. Age, race, creed and financial status...
Creating a Tipping Point for Climate Solutions
2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit: Creating a Tipping Point for Climate Solutions Where can you find a bishop, a doctor, and a mayor talking about climate...
The Trick to Talking About Climate Change
Say what you want about climate change, but you're not necessarily going to get people to listen. Jonathan Mingle's story, below from the Huffington Post,...
Why Climate Health and Environmental Justice Go Hand-in-Hand
A new study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry indicates that children born and raised near inner-city pollution sources can wind up with reduced white...
Food Impacts: A Good Reason to Avoid the Taste of Climate Change (Blech!)
Studies have shown that the nutritional quality of food may be at risk if climate change intensifies. Now, as CBS News covers below, a new...
7 Ways Health Professionals Can Tie Climate Change Into Work
Let's face it: climate change is not the topic everyone wants to raise in conversations. Although many of us are well aware of the urgency...
Eminent Speakers to Join 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit
This May, at the 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit, Climate for Health leaders will join other professionals at the forefront of climate action. These professionals cross...
Why Showing Your Personal Side Can Help You Connect with Patients on Climate
Clinicians, nurse practioners, specialists, mental health experts and other health professionals all have distinct roles with the health community. Even within these medical roles, however,...
One Woman’s Good Idea and How She is Driving Climate Solutions Into the Future
As we all know, climate change is a complex problem. Addressing it requires many minds and good ideas. Though health professionals may have interest in...
Why it’s Important to Celebrate Climate and Health Successes
Every year, the American Public Health Association sponsors an initiative called National Public Health Week. This year it falls from April 6 to 12. The...
National Health Leaders to Convene on Addressing Climate Impacts and Mobilizing Climate Action
ecoAmerica is pleased to announce our inaugural Climate for Health National Leadership Convening, being held in partnership with our co-sponsors and Leadership Circle members, Health...
Health Leaders Will Reach Across Sectors with Goal of Climate Solutions at MomentUs Summit
At the 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit this May, Climate for Health leaders will join other professionals at the forefront of climate action. These professionals span...
Why Doctors and Nurses Shouldn’t Just Treat Symptoms: Time for Climate Action
Doctors, registered nurses and respiratory therapists can see the writing on the wall: a polluted climate leads to sick patients. Now, public health problems from dirty...
Key Benefits of Urban Greenery on Mental Health
Greenery is good for you. And we're not just talking about eating your vegetables. A recent study by the University of Exeter Medical School, published...
Health Professionals Can Use Fracking Research to Prevent Future Illnesses
The health implications of unconventional gas production are quite alarming, as an increasing number of studies reveal from top universities such as Cornell, Yale, the...
Climate for Health Leaders Convene for 2015 MomentUs Summit
Announcing the 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit, May 20-21 ecoAmerica is pleased to announce our 5th annual leadership summit. Path to Positive, the 2015 MomentUs Leadership Summit,...
Why the Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels Should be Factored into Their Price
If you take health and environmental considerations into account when looking at different forms of energy, you'll see the costs of each of them will...
Health Care Professionals Need to Fight Fossil Fuels as They Did Tobacco
Like smoking, the public's addiction to fossil fuels is incredibly bad for our health. In fact, cigarette smoke is essentially the indoor version of what...
Health Care Facilities Hold the Key to Reducing Leading Source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Who's to blame for climate change? While certainly not the only culprit, health care facilities contribute a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions to our...
California’s Climate and Health Improvements are Inspirational
Just as pollution causes problems, cleaning up creates cures. Children in Southern California have become a prime example of the measurable health successes that society...
Reducing Air Pollutants Means Improving Children’s Brain Development
Childhood developmental disability rates are on the rise and improvements in diagnosis can't fully explain the increase. It seems we may now know one of...
Working Toward Climate Solutions Can Slow the Spread of Diseases
Interested in preventative medicine? Working toward climate solutions is preventative by nature and can ward off tropical diseases for years to come. Diseases such as...
The United States of Climate Change: Health Matters Coming to an Area Near You
You may not live in Minnesota but, as a Department of Public Health report there has indicated, climate change is likely soon coming to an...
The Compelling Reason for Health Providers to Work on Climate Solutions
For a growing number of doctors, "health and climate change are no longer seen as different issues and are almost seen as synonymous because there...
Clinical Perspectives on Climate Change: How Medical Experts Can Weigh In
What should the role of physicians be in countering climate change? "There is an urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the sake of our...
Preventing Trigger-Pull: How Climate Change Solutions May Help Reduce Suicides
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, at least 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. Usually, however,...
Nurses Say No: How the Keystone XL Veto is Good for Public Health
President Obama may not have a background in medicine, but he sure is a leader in protecting public health. Using his third ever veto of...
Causes of Climate Change and Children’s Neurological Issues are One and the Same
Coal-fired power plants are the primary source of toxic mercury air emissions in the United States. Mercury pollution, quite literally, rains down on us, contaminating...
The Earth Is What You Eat: Keep Climate Change in Mind at the Dinner Table
The old adage "you are what you eat" now also goes for the world around you. According to scientists, animal-based foods are now seen as...
Climate Change Solutions: Why Beginning at Home Matters
As John Podesta, recently resigned counselor to President Barack Obama, said: "Taking action on climate change today is our best hope for ensuring our children...
Introducing a New Type of Doctor: One that Delves in to Climate Change
Through their "Doctors for Climate Health" campaign, the American Lung Association (ALA) is asking physicians to take on climate change by addressing the significant smog,...
As the Climate Changes, What Will Vaccines Mean?
Links between climate change and human health are underscored by the rise in diseases associated with warmer temperatures. As Grist reports below, vector borne diseases...
Kaiser Permanente Leads the Way: Green Power for Good Health
Isn't prevention of disease preferable to a cure? Why is it, then, that medical professionals - those who hold sacred the Hippocratic Oath - have...
The Best Way to Grow a Climate Following
Successful leaders in the health field will tell you that they didn't arrive at the front of the pack on their own. Though it most...
A Culture of Climate Change: Why African Americans Give a Hoot
"Many African-Americans have never seen environmentalism as a priority until recently," reports the New Pittsburg Courier. So what's changed? People are starting to connect the...
Champions of Change: How Leaders of All Ages Can Inspire Each Other on Climate Action
You might say climate change awareness runs in my family. Last March, I secured an official excused absence for my then 12-year old son, Colter,...
Need Allergy Relief? Get Involved in Climate Solutions
The rising number of seasonal allergies across the country has had a widespread impact on the American population. More than 50 million Americans now experience...
Curing a Contradiction: Why the Health Sector Must Reduce Fossil Fuels
There is no more fitting division of society than the health sector to limit carbon emissions and keep climate change at bay. Now, a new...
To Combat Climate Change, Harness the Power of Capitalism
If you have ever worked for a large institution, you know how long it can take to make changes from within. Even the most responsive...
The Medicine of the Future: Environmental Health
Medicine has come a long way in the past few decades, and the average life expectancy is longer than it has ever been. That said,...
How to Build a Career that Makes Your Kids Proud (And Protects Them, too)
A recent study by the University of California, Los Angeles, reveals that people with children in their home were more motivated to turn off their...
The Surprising Connection Between Climate Change and Cancer
When we talk about carcinogens, we often think of the most widely known chemicals such as those in formaldehyde, tobacco smoke and pesticides. Consumer products...
Clean-Fuels Mean Clean Bodies: Making Climate Connections in Healthcare
Why would a focus on clean-fuels be of interest to a healthcare provider? The answer is blowing in the wind. Airborne toxins from dirty-fuel sources...
8 Reasons Why You Should Focus on Climate Solutions as a Medical Professional
We've heard it all before: "Climate change is the single biggest environmental and humanitarian crisis of our time," according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. ...
What No One Tells You About Climate Action
There's not much of a reason to state your political opinions if you work in the healthcare field. Evidently, now you won't cross any political...
Listen While You Lead: Creating a Vision that Reflects the Populations You Serve
As a leader in healthcare, how do you infuse a vision for leading on climate and health solutions throughout your facility, organization or community? As...
How a Healthy Environment Contributes to Having Peace of Mind
Everyone agrees that keeping fit and eating well are important for good health. These habits help us maintain or improve our physical status. Achieving a...
How to Engage a Diverse Set of Racial and Ethnic Groups in Climate Solutions
First Lady Michelle Obama knew what she was doing when she invited Nicole Hernandez Hammer, a "sea level researcher", as a guest during the State...
Climate Clues: How Addressing Air Pollution May Reduce Cases of Autism
A University of Pittsburgh study may have just offered detectives like Colonel Mustard a new clue to why autism rates continue to increase, and they...
Keys to Understanding How the World Around Us Shapes Our Health
To keep healthy, our mothers have told us to eat well and exercise. Since these actions improve your odds of living longer, you should still...
Learn Why Health Professionals Are Concerned About the Health Impacts of Climate Change
American health professionals are increasingly concerned about the health impacts of climate change. That’s why organizations like Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) are strong supporters...
The Climate Games: How to Help Fight the Biggest Battle of Our Time
Katniss Everdeen may know how to shoot a mean bow and arrow, but can she organize the health community to take on climate change? Seems...
Are Americans Finally Getting Serious About Climate Change?
You may already be sick sick of hearing about climate change. However, it turns out many Americans are just beginning to take it seriously. A...
How to Save Power by Talking About the Health Benefits
You may have thought that reprimanding your child for leaving the lights on would hit home if you told him how much money it costs....
Changing the Climate from the Inside Out
When you have a problem with your health, where do you turn? To your doctor. Your skin flares up: dermatologist. Your foot bothers you: podiatrist....
Matters of the Mind: The Psychosocial Effects of Climate Change
It's clear that climate change is having an impact on our natural resources, weather patterns and ecosystem. The physical results of extreme weather are well...
Climate Change is Not Just About the Climate, It’s About Us
When we think of climate change, we often envision its impacts on the environment around us – from rising seas to extreme weather. But along...
How Do Americans Think Climate Change Will Affect Their Health?
A national survey of Americans, conducted in October 2014 by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, indicates that most of us are relatively unaware...
When Doctors Speak, Patients Listen
Climate change has become a trending topic in headlines across the country. Most commonly, these headlines occur in national news publications focusing on the weather....
CDC Holds First-Ever “Grand Rounds” Focused on Climate Change and Health
Evidence of climate change grows stronger every day – and the higher temperatures and extreme weather we’re seeing pose an increasing threat to our national...
How the Climate Resilience Toolkit Helps Make Climate Information More Relevant
Last month I revisited New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina to participate in the American Public Health Association’s 2014 Annual Meeting. Close...
Nurses Working for a Healthy Future, Healthy Families
For many nurses, the desire to push for approaches that minimize pollution and decrease waste and toxic chemical use in delivering healthcare is just common...
How Storytelling Can Enhance Climate Health
Robert Redford, one of the quintessential filmmakers and storytellers of our time, has committed years of work to help protect nature. He recently wrote a...
Climate Change’s Newest Public Ambassadors? Nurses
As the climate changes, nurses have been on the frontlines seeing the health impacts of extreme weather, increased allergens and asthma rates, increasing vector ranges,...
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