Audience: Health Community

COP28 begins in Dubai today during what will likely be the hottest year on record. Notably, it’s also the first time in the conference’s history that health will play a central theme, which speaks to how far we’ve come in bridging the climate and health worlds compared to just a few years ago, thanks to advocacy efforts across the movement and a rapidly growing body of research making the connection evident.
Health-related impacts of climate change have become impossible to overlook—from heat stroke, to climate anxiety, to air pollution from fossil fuel facilities, and they all disproportionately impact BIPOC and frontline communities. The Lancet Countdown recently published a new report highlighting how the alarming health risks are only getting worse due to continued global inaction, and even Billboard has begun keeping track of major concerts disrupted by extreme weather and its health impacts across the world.
Now more than ever, health is a relevant, compelling angle in engaging the public on climate change, and health professionals are uniquely positioned to leverage their trusted voices for climate action. So this week, we’re sharing insights from the Lab’s Climate & Health Peer Learning Circle (one completed early 2023, and the other currently in progress!) which provides cohorts of health professionals with the necessary training to effectively engage their colleagues and the public on climate.

Severe thunderstorms hit my hometown of Durham, NC last week, bringing 80 mph winds and flash flooding across our community. Around half the county was without power for more than 24 hours– presenting serious health risks for our most vulnerable neighbors, as temperatures (and humidity levels) climbed into the mid-90s. 
96% of people in the United States have faced extreme weather risks this summer (from flooding, storms, heat, or fire) according to the new “Danger Season” tool from the Union of Concerned Scientists that tracks county-level alerts. 

As the global climate crisis intensifies, extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and severe worldwide. This escalating heat has placed the topic at the forefront of climate change discussions, with city governments increasingly concerned about the risks posed by extreme temperatures. To limit the impact on communities and safeguard public health, effective communication of heat risks, especially to vulnerable populations, is of paramount importance.

Spurred by smoke-filled skies and fiery rivers, the first Earth Day mobilization in 1970 helped people understand the connection between environmental pollution and public health. As we commemorate 50+ years of Earth Day this week, a growing body of research documents how climate change harms our health – from heat stroke to wildfire smoke inhalation to insect-borne diseases. Indeed, last fall the World Health Organized released a new report calling climate change “the biggest health threat facing humanity,” and highlighting that, “While no one is safe from these risks, the people whose health is being harmed first and worst by the climate crisis are the people who contribute least to its causes, and who are least able to protect themselves and their families against it – people in low-income and disadvantaged countries and communities.”
When the Lab last explored climate and health in a newsletter* back in 2019, we shared that public awareness of health impacts from climate change was relatively low. Advocacy efforts at the climate/health intersection have gained a lot of traction in recent years, however, organizations (like our friends at the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health) have helped connect the dots for communities, policymakers, and the media.