Confronting Climate Change

The future of humanity is sustainable

It’s the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat. It’s also the rising risk of epidemics and natural disasters that devastate communities and trigger social upheaval. Climate change harms us all, but we can turn the tide.

We are working to protect communities around the corner and around the globe—uncovering the human consequences of pollution policies, the nuances of our changing environment, and the solutions that are possible when we work together. We’re revealing new insights and making new connections. And we’re helping people survive and thrive in a changing world.

We’re on the front lines of the fight to sustain humankind.

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Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE)
C-CHANGE produces science for a healthy, just, and sustainable world. Researchers at the Center will harness the best available science and support innovative research to develop strategies that benefit public health today while providing opportunities to stabilize our climate.
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Recent Stories

Texas storm offers glimpse of how climate change threatens public health

February 23, 2021 – An extreme winter storm followed by freezing temperatures, prolonged power outages, and water shortages has threatened the health of millions of Texans. Renee Salas, a Yerby Fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and…

Pollen seasons are getting longer, driven by climate change

Since 1990, pollen seasons have gotten longer and more pollen-filled, and climate change is responsible, according to a new study.

Harvard Chan School experts tapped for Biden administration posts

Two faculty members from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—Sara Bleich and Benjamin Sommers—and one former faculty member, Gina McCarthy, have been chosen for roles in the new Biden-Harris administration.

Harvard Chan experts featured in year’s top stories in Harvard Magazine, Harvard Gazette

Experts from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health were featured in some of the top stories of 2020 in both Harvard Magazine and the Harvard Gazette.

Gina McCarthy tapped to coordinate U.S. climate agenda

Gina McCarthy, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council and chair of the board of advisers of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, has been chosen by…

Drew Michanowicz
Research Fellow in the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment

"Climate change should be public health enemy number one. The irony is, if we don’t slow the rate of climate change, we may no longer get the luxury of imagining future public health achievements."
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Ramon Sanchez
Research Associate in the Department of Environmental Health

"My particular interest is using microorganisms to transform wastewater into fuel. Imagine that every city will be its own refinery, because it will transform the nutrients that we process in our bodies into fuel. That will reduce not only carbon intensity but also toxic emissions."
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Piers MacNaughton
Associate Director of the Healthy Buildings Program; Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment

"Right now, 7 million people die each year from air pollution. I think that number will go down to zero by 2050, once the grid is completely fossil-fuel-free, transportation is decarbonized, and indoor sources of air pollution are removed."
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