Climate Change

Agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and organic farming practices can potentially offset some of these emissions. However, previous research on the environmental impact of organic agriculture has provided mixed or contradictory results. This study aims to analyze the role that organic farming can play in mitigating agricultural emissions across the United States.

Eighty-five high school students from the U.S. and beyond learned about climate change from a variety of perspectives—and got ideas on how to tackle the climate crisis in their own communities and beyond—at an annual youth summit held in late July at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Global climate change and extreme weather events are associated with epigenetic modifications in immune cells, leading to the possible increased risk and prevalence of allergies and autoimmune diseases.

Climate change is a public health emergency.  Clinicians worldwide now face the reality of caring for patients during wildfires, heat waves, floods, and shifting infectious disease patterns. Health-care workers need better preparation to care for communities facing the health effects of climate change. Medical students have been key advocates in these efforts, driving research, community partnerships, and education

Heat waves are increasing in intensity, frequency, and duration causing significant heat stress in all living organisms. Heat stress has multiple negative effects on plants affecting photosynthesis, respiration, growth, development, and reproduction. It also impacts animals leading to physiological and behavioral alterations, such as reduced caloric intake, increased water intake, and decreased reproduction and growth.

The environmental exposures that the human immune system encounters is vastly different from that during preindustrial times. The increased use of fossil fuels in conjunction with deforestation, urbanization, loss of biodiversity, and effluents from mining, agriculture, and industry have led to fundamental shifts in the physical and chemical nature of Earth. Here, we review these fundamental shifts in the environment, extreme weather events and their association with increased prevalence of allergic diseases, and the mechanism by which they alter immune responses leading to allergic sensitization and reactions.