Gina McCarthy fighting climate change at NRDC
Despite increasingly dire reports about climate change—rising global temperatures, melting ice sheets, wildfires, intense storms—Gina McCarthy says she intends to keep fighting against it. A January 13, 2020, Boston Globe column profiled McCarthy, professor of the practice of…
‘The planet has a fever’
The last decade was the hottest ever, and 2019 was the second-hottest year ever, according to a report from two federal agencies. The annual global climate report from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used…
Viewpoint: Encouraging health professionals’ civic engagement to address health impact of climate crisis
Health professionals who want to address the effects of the climate crisis on the health of people and the planet should become more civically engaged.
A focus on news about the environment
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…
Climate change can harm health, but most medical schools don’t teach it
Climate change poses numerous threats to human health, yet it’s generally not part of the curriculum at medical schools, according to a recent news report. A December 27, 2019 article in Scientific American, originally published in E&E News,…
‘Climate emergency’ is OED word of the year
The Oxford English Dictionary chose “climate emergency” as its word of the year for 2019, reflecting the hundred-fold increase in the phrase’s usage over the previous year. Gina McCarthy, director of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s…
Ohio methane leak may have been one of largest in U.S.
A little-known gas well accident in Ohio appears to have led to one of the largest methane leaks in U.S. history, according to a recent study. Using data from a satellite that monitors the entire planet for methane…
Dealing with health problems and health care as the climate changes
Climate change makes it harder for people to stay healthy and for medical providers to do their jobs, says Aaron Bernstein, co-director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of…
Children’s health especially at risk from climate change
Climate change is predicted to harm children more than adults, according to a new report from The Lancet. A November 13, 2019 New York Times article about the report noted that if fossil fuel emissions aren’t limited in…
Exploring how fracking may harm the environment, health
Fracking—the extraction of natural gas and oil from shale—has ballooned in Ohio over the past decade. Some argue that the fracking boom is bringing economic benefits to the state. But others voice concern about damage to the environment,…