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

Wildfires, extreme heat causing health harms

An uptick in extreme heat and wildfires around the world, driven by climate change, is leading to more illness and more deaths, according to experts.

After climate summit, experts discuss key takeaways, next steps

A panel of leaders in the fight against climate change discussed key outcomes from the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, known as COP26.

Opinion: Fix crumbling school infrastructure

School buildings are in desperate need of repair, particularly of their systems that manage indoor air quality, according to an opinion piece co-authored by Harvard Chan School's Joseph Allen.

Eric Rubin, Renee Salas elected to National Academy of Medicine

Two researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Eric Rubin and Renee Salas, have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

Increasing production of aquatic foods a win-win for people and planet

September 17, 2021—Nutrition researchers have long touted the health benefits of fish such as salmon, cod, and herring. But the world’s waterways, from the depths of the oceans to the cutbanks of rivers to tropical reefs, offer up…

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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