The climate crisis and clinical practice

02/12/2020 | The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

What we know about the health effects of climate change is just the tip of the iceberg, according to our research fellow and emergency medicine physician Dr. Renee Salas in her article, “The Climate Crisis and Clinical Practice,” published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

It’s critical for hospitals and medical professionals to adapt health care delivery to climate change. Implementing solutions will require stakeholders across disciplines to strategize, share best practices, and learn from health professionals and systems that have already been threatened by climate change.

Climate changes health and also the ways climate change has made it more challenging for clinicians to do their jobs. For instance:

    • New norms in extreme heat eliciting a need for better heat warning alerts, emergency room protocols, and clinician education

    • Rising pollen levels and longer allergy seasons impacting allergies and asthma

    • Natural disasters disrupting treatment for chemotherapy or dialysis

    • Increasing CO2 levels decreasing the nutritional value of food

    • Extreme heat impacting heat-sensitive medication, such as albuterol inhalers

    • Regional changes in vector-borne diseases like lyme disease and west nile virus

    • Increasing risk of infectious diseases in warming temperatures

Related:

Preterm and early-term birth, heat waves, and our changing climate

Heat waves pose an escalating threat to human health in general and the health of pregnant people and infants in particular.

Read Now

Harvard Medical School’s New Climate Change Curriculum Shows Early Success

New report details how Harvard Medical School developed, implemented, and evaluated its curriculum to prepare healthcare professionals for climate change.

Read Now

Toward a Climate-Ready Health Care System: Institutional Motivators and Workforce Engagement

Dr. Caleb Dresser argues that health care systems must reframe incentives and engage their workforce to become climate-resilient.

Read Now

Study: Teaching community organizing principles to health professionals significantly increases their capacity to take climate action

Read Now

Federal investments in climate change and health research are inadequate says Harvard analysis

Critical knowledge gaps hinder an evidence-based response and are perpetuated by scarce federal research funds.

Read Now

Hundreds of Hospitals on Atlantic and Gulf Coasts at Risk of Flooding from Hurricanes

Our study is the first to systematically investigate flooding risk to nearly 700 U.S. hospitals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts from Category 1-4 storms.

Read Now

Communicating Statistics on the Health Effects of Climate Change

Health professionals need to communicate the health and equity implications of climate change effectively to protect health and motivate action.

Read Now

A Pediatrician’s Guide to Climate Change-Informed Primary Care

A practical approach for connecting climate change with health during pediatric well visits.

Read Now

The medical response to climate change

Our Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein lays out five pillars for the medical response to climate change.

Read Now

Adding A Climate Lens To Health Policy In The United States

Our Yerby Fellow Dr. Renee Salas and Interim Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein outline specific recommendations for achieving climate action through health policy and decision making.

Read Now

Doctors Call For More Training to Respond to Climate Change

A team of medical professionals hopes to prepare future doctors with a new climate and health curriculum.

Read Now

Why fighting climate change is key to America’s health

Our Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein explains why climate solutions are health solutions.

Read Now

Harvard Chan C-CHANGE and Biogen to help under-resourced healthcare clinics become more climate-resilient and improve patient health

Read Now

The first residency curriculum to better prepare doctors for climate change

New framework can teach medical residents how climate changes affects health, clinical care, and health care delivery.

Read Now

Climate change and health care with Drs. Caren Solomon and Renee Salas

ClimateMD Leader Dr. Renee Salas talks about the unique role doctors can play to educate their patients about climate change, and the opportunity to advocate for climate solutions.

Read Now

Enough hiding: It's time we see the faces of climate change

Doctors have long warned that climate change would harm public health. Now, we are seeing a growing nexus between climate and health impacts, just as the experts have warned.

Read Now

The climate crisis and COVID-19—A major threat to the pandemic response

Strategies for local communities and states to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission during climate-related extreme events like heat waves, hurricanes, and wildfires.

Read Now

Climate change is a health crisis, and doctors aren't prepared

Children born today will have their health affected by climate change, making it crucial for medical schools to build the subject into their curriculum.

Read Now

In the hot seat: What climate change looks like in the exam room

ER physician Dr. Renee Salas talks about her experience as a doctor in the wake of the climate crisis.

Read Now

How to breathe easier during allergy season?

A pediatrician's perspective on a warming planet and longer pollen seasons.

Read Now

Dr. Renee Salas

Renee N. Salas MD, MPH, MS

Renee's work focuses on the intersection of the climate crisis, health, and healthcare delivery.

View Profile