Most recent 40 articles: Yale Climate Connections - Health
 |
The hidden health toll of hurricanes - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Oct 22) |
|
Oct 22 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Weeks after Hurricanes Milton and Helene tore paths of destruction across the Southeast, pictures of communities left in ruins continue to emerge.
We can easily see damage from the threats we commonly connect with hurricanes and tropical storms: winds, waves, and floodwaters.
But the lingering health problems these storms leave in their wake are mostly invisible, damaging well-being and increasing the risk of disease in insidious and silent waves. From immediate risks from disruptions of medical care to a slow worsening of preexisting chronic ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Warming world, deadly problem: Heat-related deaths are surging - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Oct 7) |
|
Oct 7 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Early on the evening of August 22, 2024, Jeff Howard was preparing dinner in his northeast San Antonio home while the local TV news played quietly in the background.
“A developing story now. Police find a homeless woman dead on the sidewalk,” the news anchor said.
At this, Howard dropped what he was doing and hurried closer to the TV.
“The cause is believed to be from the extreme heat.”
Howard knew that was likely because a high-pressure system known as a heat dome had recently moved over South Texas. The meteorological phenomenon ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The real reasons mosquitoes bite some people more than others - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Oct 2) |
|
Oct 2 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As the climate warms, the summer mosquito season is lasting longer in many areas.
Mosquitoes bring itchy bites and the risk of diseases like West Nile virus, so it’s important to know how to keep them away from you.
But Jean Ponzi of the Missouri Botanical Garden says many people misunderstand what attracts mosquitoes.
Ponzi: “People say, 'Well, I think it’s my blood type. Well, I think it’s because I’m such a sweet person.’”
In reality, mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, which we breathe out, chemicals produced on people’s ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Cutting climate pollution could save tens of thousands of lives, study finds - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Sep 27) |
|
Sep 27 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Breathing in vehicle exhaust, power plant fumes, and other fossil fuel pollution can harm people’s lungs and hearts.
Ganatra: “Climate change and environmental pollution impacts us gravely.”
So Sarju Ganatra, a cardiologist at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Massachusetts, says reducing climate pollution can improve our health.
The U.S. has committed to cutting its climate-warming emissions to about half of 2005 levels by the end of this decade.
Ganatra and his team used computer models to estimate the health benefits of ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The unsung heroes of India’s extreme weather disasters - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Sep 25) |
|
Sep 25 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Community health care worker Noushadbi Mujawar safely evacuated everyone from Rajapur, an isolated village in India, as its streets began flooding in August 2019. Mujawar, 42, remained in the village herself even as floodwaters rose 12 feet above her house.
“I moved to a nearby taller building and decided to stay,” said Mujawar, who wanted to help those villagers who stayed with their property as the floodwaters rose.
“Many people stay in their homes during floods to care for their cattle, as evacuating them involves significant risks,” she said. Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change could expand the range of disease-carrying mosquitoes - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Sep 11) |
|
Sep 11 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance. They can also be a public health risk.
And many areas are now seeing more of them – and even species they haven’t seen before like Aedes albopictus, which can spread diseases like dengue, chikungunya, and La Crosse virus.
Davidson Hamer is a public health researcher at Boston University.
Hamer: “Aedes albopictus has spread … from the southern part of the U.S. gradually all the way up into New England and even into Ontario.”
A warming climate could allow these and some other disease-carrying species ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change is making seasonal allergies even worse - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Sep 3) |
|
Sep 3 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Every summer, ragweed pollen fills the air – causing people with ragweed allergies to sniffle and sneeze.
And climate change is now making seasonal allergies even worse and causing them to last longer.
Warmer temperatures and higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause some plants to produce more pollen, which can worsen symptoms.
And as winters get shorter, plants can start making pollen earlier in the spring and continue producing pollen later in the fall.
In some parts of North America, this means allergy season ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
California moves to protect indoor workers from deadly heat - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Aug 8) |
|
Aug 8 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In California, 20 people died from heat-related illnesses at work between the years 2010 and 2017.
Many of those people worked outdoors. But at least seven worked indoors, where brutally hot days can be just as dangerous.
Frazzini: “Even though they aren’t exposed directly to the sun, the temperatures get really high.”
Ali Frazzini is with the Los Angeles County chief sustainability office.
A few years ago, her office studied how people in L.A. County were affected by global warming.
She says workplaces like indoor car washes ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change is making us sick, literally - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Aug 8) |
|
Aug 8 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Although raw sewage and gastrointestinal illnesses are rarely topics broached in polite conversation, they’re having a glaring impact in hundreds of towns and cities in the United States. The risk of acute gastrointestinal illness increases by up to 62% after certain kinds of sewer overflows, according to recent research led by a team at the School of Public Health at Boston University.
And with increasing extreme rainfall events in the forecast, climate change could make the problem worse.
So how does sewage treatment affect digestive health, ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How to protect your pets during a heat wave - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jul 26) |
|
Jul 26 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Extreme heat is not just a threat to people. It can also be dangerous for pets. And to stay safe during a heat wave, animals need many of the same protections humans do.
On a hot day, keep your dogs and cats out of the sun and provide them with plenty of water.
If you go for a walk, try to do it in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler.
And never leave your pet in a parked car on a hot day. Temperatures in a vehicle can quickly reach more than 100 degrees, even with the windows cracked, putting the animal in serious ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Why this doctor is worried about climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jul 17) |
|
Jul 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
There’s a good chance your doctor is worried about climate change - and the health consequences it could have for patients. So a fellowship led by two Harvard doctors is training health care workers to take action.
Three-quarters of health professionals believe that climate change will harm patients, according to a survey published in the Lancet. Health care workers are also among the most trusted professionals in the U.S.
That combination of professional concern and public trust provides an opportunity for health care workers to speak up on ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Got climate anxiety? Taking action can be the right medicine. - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jul 12) |
|
Jul 12 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As the climate warms, increasingly intense storms and fires threaten people’s homes and safety. Rising seas are flooding coastal communities. And extreme heat waves are causing illness and death.
Thinking about these dangers can be overwhelming.
Davenport: “Any kind of emotional response is completely natural - sadness, grief, fear, anger, rage.”
Leslie Davenport is a licensed therapist and a climate psychology educator. She says it can help to connect with others and get involved in climate action.
Davenport: “Being part of the ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change is coming for hospitals - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jul 11) |
|
Jul 11 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In August 2023, time was running out for health care workers along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Hospital administrators and staff had to decide how they would prepare themselves, their patients, and their facilities as Hurricane Idalia - a Category 4 - closed in on the coastline.
Faced with the possibility of a six-foot storm surge that would engulf streets and potentially flood the lower levels of the hospitals, four hospitals and eight free-standing emergency rooms in the Tampa Bay metro area were shut down. The hospitals transported patients to safer ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Seattle summers are no longer reliably mild - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jul 9) |
|
Jul 9 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Seattle residents are accustomed to wearing rain jackets and sweatshirts year-round.
Binder: “Living in the Seattle region in western Washington, there’s a tendency to think that heat is a problem everywhere else but here. We typically have very mild summers.”
But Lara Whitely Binder, the climate preparedness program manager for King County, says very hot days are getting more common as the climate warms.
And unlike in Phoenix or Miami where heat is the norm, many people in Seattle lack air conditioning. So they have a hard time ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
A victory for environmental justice in Minnesota - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jul 2) |
|
Jul 2 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, residents live just down the street from an asphalt mixing plant and an iron foundry. And for decades, they struggled with arsenic contamination from a former pesticide manufacturer.
Ortiz: “We know that historically, there has been certain communities that are bearing the brunt of pollution, leading to increased health, environmental and economic and social inequities.”
Carolina Ortiz is with Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action. The Minnesota-based nonprofit helped push the state to ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Cancer patients can face treatment disruptions during extreme weather - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jun 19) |
|
Jun 19 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
For people with cancer, climate disasters like wildfires or hurricanes can be especially disruptive.
Some cancer treatments, like chemotherapy and radiation, require frequent doctor’s visits. If patients need to evacuate due to extreme weather, they may not be able to get this critical care.
Nogueira: “During active cancer treatment, having continuity of care, uninterrupted access to care, is extremely important so that we win this battle with the tumor.”
Leticia Nogueira is with the American Cancer Society.
She says patients can ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Fellowship helps doctors and nurses take action on climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jun 18) |
|
Jun 18 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Doctors and nurses are increasingly worried about how climate change is harming people’s health. And some are learning how to translate that concern about their patients into community advocacy.
Basu: “Our approach in this fellowship is really to help people find their voice, find their community, and help them realize that they can be very impactful in making change.”
Dr. Gaurab Basu helps lead the Climate Health Organizing Fellowship, a program run by Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance.
The program teaches doctors, ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Is climate change hurting your skin? - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jun 17) |
|
Jun 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Skincare has always been more challenging in the summer. And climate change has raised the level of difficulty, with frequent hot spells and more exposure to pollution from wildfires that can damage our skin, leading to premature wrinkling, skin discoloration, and sun spots.
It also means potentially higher risks for skin cancer.
Experts I spoke to say children, elderly people, and anyone living in areas exposed to a lot of traffic, wildfire smoke, or other pollution are particularly at risk. But a warming climate could take a toll on anyone’s skin. Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Want to talk to a therapist about climate change? Here are four things to ask. - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jun 12) |
|
Jun 12 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
We live in a world in which extreme weather is getting more extreme - heat waves are hotter, hurricanes are more severe, and wildfires are larger. This reality can affect our feelings of safety in the present and hope for the future, leading to anxiety, grief, dread, hopelessness, and anger.
Wendy Greenspun is a climate psychologist and educator based in New York City. She said that not everyone who is experiencing climate distress needs to see a therapist, but it can be helpful if you feel like your usual channels of managing your emotions aren’t ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Florida school district offers kids a cleaner ride to school - Yale Climate Connections - Health (May 22, 2024) |
|
May 22, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
For decades, kids have ridden on school buses that burn diesel fuel and belch air pollution that can harm the climate and people’s health. But now, some students in Miami-Dade County are heading to school in an all-electric ride.
The county school district recently purchased 20 electric school buses and is committed to buying 80 more.
The transition to these new buses was spurred by students, teachers, and community organizations.
And school board member Luisa Santos says each electric bus will prevent more than 200 tons of planet-warming ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change is affecting mental health literally everywhere - Yale Climate Connections - Health (May 13, 2024) |
|
May 13, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Farmers who can’t sleep, worrying they’ll lose everything amid increasing drought. Youth struggling with depression over a future that feels hopeless. Indigenous people grief-stricken over devastated ecosystems. For all these people and more, climate change is taking a clear toll on mental health - in every part of the world.
Experts shared these examples and others during a recent summit organized by the Connecting Climate Minds network that brought together hundreds of scientists, doctors, community leaders, and other experts from dozens of countries ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Allergy symptoms got you down? Blame pollen AND air pollution. - Yale Climate Connections - Health (May 01, 2024) |
|
May 01, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
You are not alone if every pollen season feels worse than the year before.
Pollen season is starting earlier and lasting longer, and even those previously unaffected are noticing its impacts. Across the globe, allergic reactions to pollen have increased in frequency and severity over the last several decades.
The evidence is clear to the naked eye: the dusting of yellow-green powder on outdoor patio furniture and cars parked on the street and the itchy eyes, runny noses, and sleepless nights starting weeks earlier than in the ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How expectant parents can prepare for extreme weather - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Apr 15, 2024) |
|
Apr 15, 2024 · In a webinar on April 19, we'll explore how climate organizations are currently using storytelling in their work, the impacts of these stories, and lessons learned from other movements.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Expectant parents may spend months preparing to give birth - developing a relationship with a doctor or midwife, arranging a babysitter for other children when it’s time, and mapping the best route to the hospital.
But during an extreme weather disaster, things may not go as planned.
Smith-Johnson: “So I would suggest for people to start now doing their due ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Puerto Rico declares an emergency as cases of dengue fever spike - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Apr 11, 2024) |
|
Apr 11, 2024 · In a webinar on April 19, we'll explore how climate organizations are currently using storytelling in their work, the impacts of these stories, and lessons learned from other movements.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Puerto Rico has declared a public health emergency as cases of dengue fever, a potentially deadly mosquito-borne infection, rise precipitously across the United States territory. In the emergency order, the commonwealth’s department of health said it had recorded 549 cases of the disease this year so far, a 140 percent increase over the same period a year ago.
The ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
As temperatures warm, valley fever fungus vastly expands its range - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Apr 08, 2024) |
|
Apr 08, 2024 · In a webinar on April 19, we'll explore how climate organizations are currently using storytelling in their work, the impacts of these stories, and lessons learned from other movements.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Hiking beneath giant saguaro cactuses and around creosote bushes, Ramsey searches for animal burrows. “I’ve been to rat burrows and ones with badgers, rabbits, even squirrels,” she explains. “In fact, any burrow used by a mammal will do.”
When Ramsey finds a burrow, she puts on the mask and collects samples of dirt from a few inches below the surface and spoons ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Group to monitor air pollution in 12 U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Mar 29, 2024) |
|
Mar 29, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In the U.S., Hispanic people are disproportionately exposed to harmful air pollution.
They’re more likely to work outdoors in agriculture or construction, so they may be more exposed to wildfire smoke.
And in many areas, neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations are more likely to be located near highways, or oil and gas plants - sources of pollution that can worsen heart and lung diseases.
Rosas: “When the air quality is not OK, we … want to bring awareness to that so we can make positive change for our communities and for the next ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
'People were scared.’ How a maternal care nonprofit stepped up for families after Maui’s wildfires - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Mar 21, 2024) |
|
Mar 21, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Last summer, wildfires roared across part of Hawaii’s Maui Island. In the town of Lahaina, the fires destroyed more than 2,000 homes and buildings.
Smith-Johnson: “People had to leave all of their belongings and leave literally with the clothes on their back. And as you’re thinking about someone who’s preparing for birth, who just had a child and in their immediate postpartum, or in the throes of postpartum, what does that look like?”
Tanya Smith-Johnson is a certified midwife and the policy director for the Healthy Mothers, Healthy ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Losing sleep in extreme heat waves hurts pregnant people, newborns - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Mar 20, 2024) |
|
Mar 20, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Climate change has made pregnancy and childbearing more treacherous in regions of the world most vulnerable to extreme heat. In Mumbai, searing heat in the summer of 2022, topping 38 degrees Celsius (104 F) during the day, made 23-year-old Madhuri Bolake lose so much sleep she actually thought about getting an abortion.
“Even after turning on the ceiling fan at the maximum speed, I found it difficult to fall asleep,” she recalled. “Often, I woke up in the middle of the night.” (Like others interviewed for this story, she spoke in the regional Marathi ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
As threats to air quality rise, communities deploy low-cost air monitoring networks - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Mar 19, 2024) |
|
Mar 19, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
It’s a universal fear - getting an F in a class or a paper. But what happens when an entire region fails?
Take the Imperial Valley, which frequently receives low or failing grades for air quality. This agricultural hub in Southern California - ranked as one of the state’s poorest counties - is plagued by air pollution from agricultural burns, desert dust, wildfire smoke, and even pollution from the ongoing evaporation of the Salton Sea.
In response, community groups began working in 2007 to develop and implement the Identifying Violations ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
I’m a doctor. Here’s what Western medicine misunderstands about nature. - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Feb 28, 2024) |
|
Feb 28, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
I still flush with embarrassment when I relive the moment.
It was 20 years ago. I was a shy medical student. In class, we were learning about heart disease - its causes and the drugs that could be used to treat it.
After the lecture, I quietly approached the professor. I asked him, what about yoga? Could incorporating yoga be beneficial for heart patients?
His response was swift and dismissive, dripping with skepticism. Yoga, he said, is nothing more than a New Age exercise, far removed from the realm of serious medicine.
The ridicule ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How your editors deal with climate grief - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Feb 15, 2024) |
|
Feb 15, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When the Yale Climate Connections editors got together to chat recently, the conversation turned to climate grief. Working as climate journalists every day, we’re frequently exposed to loss alongside hope for the future. In this conversation, we talk about how climate grief affects us and how we manage it.
This roundtable discussion has been edited and condensed.
Sam: I’ve been gathering data for a story documenting the death toll of climate change in 2023. And initially, I was like, “Is this going to be a very stressful, sad experience?” ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change is hurting kids’ mental health, report finds - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jan 04, 2024) |
|
Jan 04, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Surviving a hurricane or wildfire can be traumatic. And people who are displaced from their homes may suffer anxiety, PTSD, or depression.
Children are especially vulnerable because they may not have coping skills yet. And they depend on adults, who may be struggling themselves.
Manning: “So they experience those things firsthand, but then they also often are impacted by their parents’ emotional distress at living through that same disaster.”
Christie Manning of Macalester College is co-author of a recent report on climate change and ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Climate change stresses physical and mental health in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Jan 04, 2024) |
|
Jan 04, 2024 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Puerto Rico has seen an alarming increase in deaths over the last two years caused by cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and mental health conditions like overdose, alcoholism, and dementia. There are a number of reasons for this, but the Fifth National Climate Assessment released last month warned that more intense and frequent hurricanes and other extreme weather events caused by climate change will likely bring more illness, higher mortality, and an overall decrease in quality of life to citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Air pollution made Alejandro Daly sick. Now he fights for clean air. - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Dec 20, 2023) |
|
Dec 20, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In 2014, Alejandro Daly fled political unrest in his home country of Venezuela. The 18-year-old moved to Bogotá, Colombia - a bustling city with lots of buses spewing diesel fumes.
Daly was born with asthma, and he says his condition worsened in his new home.
Daly: “At the beginning, I didn’t know what air pollution was, but I saw that something was affecting me.”
He started to learn about the connections between burning fossil fuels, air pollution, and human health - and decided to fight for change.
Daly helped lead a campaign that ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The surprising connection between eco-anxiety and loneliness - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Dec 19, 2023) |
|
Dec 19, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
The climate crisis isn’t just altering our physical environments. It could even be transforming our minds and how we connect to each other.
Many people are experiencing escalating anxiety levels about the potential for extreme weather events and the safety of their homes, property, and livelihoods. Still more are numbed by general ennui about how the planet and our existence are being fundamentally altered. And evidence is growing that in addition to altering our environment, the climate crisis could be transforming our minds.
“Climate change is ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
As temperatures rise, so do Georgia ER visits for venomous snake bites - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Dec 13, 2023) |
|
Dec 13, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
On a warm day, lots of people head outdoors to hike and enjoy nature. And they’re not the only ones taking advantage of the weather.
Scovronick: “Snakes are coldblooded, which means their body temperatures and their behaviors are influenced by the ambient temperature. So the outdoor temperature influences how active they are.”
Noah Scovronick was part of a team at Emory University that wanted to learn how changes in temperature affect the prevalence of snake bites in Georgia. The state is home to dozens of snake species, including seven that are ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Telehealth can help rural and underserved kids access care - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Dec 08, 2023) |
|
Dec 08, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Technology is making it easier for children with asthma to get the care they need.
At some schools, they can now go to the nurse’s office for a telehealth visit with a provider many miles away.
Katherine Chike-Harris at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing says it’s like any video call but on a computer connected to medical devices, such as an electronic stethoscope.
Chike-Harris: “It’s plugged into the audio port of the computer and so we can actually listen to the heart and lungs.”
Asthma affects about 5 ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The key point that COP28 is ignoring - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Dec 07, 2023) |
|
Dec 07, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
I had to flee from the Camp Pendleton fire while recovering from my second open-heart surgery, still bandaged, unable to drive, and only able to escape due to the kindness of a neighbor.
The day I flew from California for the last time, I was suffering from breathing difficulties as a result of yet another wildfire, where even closed windows couldn’t keep out the soot and lingering smell of smoke from the indoor air.
And as a caregiver for a blind parent with mobility difficulties, I’ve experienced having to decide between staying in a house ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Don’t sleep on soot - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Nov 21, 2023) |
|
Nov 21, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Somesh Roy was about 10 years old when he discovered a history book depicting ancient cave paintings. The images captivated him. Inside his home in West Bengal, India, which lacked electricity, he used candlelight to gawk at the pages after dark.
“I knew I was going to be a historian when I grew up,” Roy says, flashing a smile to acknowledge his unconventional path. “Of course, if you’re going to be a historian, you become an engineer.”
Working both in the lab and classroom at Marquette University in Milwaukee, the mechanical engineer has carved ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Up to 20% of lung cancer patients never smoked - Yale Climate Connections - Health (Nov 14, 2023) |
|
Nov 14, 2023 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
More than 200,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. And smoking is not always to blame.
Gomez: “Approximately 10-20% of patients who have lung cancer are never-smokers.”
Jorge Gomez is an oncologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
He says that several environmental risk factors contribute to lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Some of the biggest are secondhand smoke and radon. But air pollution - caused in part by burning fossil fuels - has also been linked to the ... Read more ...
|
|
|