The Australian bush fires, the politics of climate change, and sea level rise in Boston’s disadvantaged neighborhood were among the topics discussed in a new environmental news roundtable on the WGBH radio show “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley.”
One of the panelists featured in the roundtable, which premiered on January 12, 2020, was pediatrician Aaron Bernstein, interim director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Bernstein said his work on climate change stemmed from his role as a pediatrician. “Pediatricians are in the business of keeping kids healthy,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s hard for me to do that job without dealing with climate change. To keep children healthy in our communities, in our country, in the world, you need a livable climate.”
He said that wildfires in Australia, California, and elsewhere can have lifelong health effects on kids who watch their homes go up in flames. He stressed the need to depoliticize the topic of climate change. He also said that the poorest communities tend to have some of the biggest environmental problems.
But he added that he’s been heartened during the past year by the youth climate movement. “I’m listening to the children not just here but around the world who are calling us to account,” he said.
Listen to the environmental news roundtable on WGBH’s “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley”