As the planet warms, the story of climate change is increasingly becoming a story about human health. Rising temperatures, wildfire smoke, flooding, and shifting disease patterns are no longer distant threats; they are everyday realities. The climate crisis is reshaping health care systems, exposing inequalities, and forcing doctors and policymakers to rethink some of their practices. Medical schools are beginning to adopt climate as part of their curricula, yet such education is widely variable across the country. So what policy and system changes might help address both the climate and health crises at the same time?
Episode Guests:
Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance
Cecilia Sorensen, Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, Columbia University
Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, President and CEO, PAI
For show notes, transcript, and related links, visit climateone.org/podcasts
Highlights:
00:00 – Intro
03:30 – Cecilia Sorensen on consulting for a Grey’s Anatomy episode on heat
07:00 – Climate impact she’s seen in the ER
10:00 – Medical education is variable across the country, including climate awareness
16:00 – Importance of public health and the role of preventive medicine
21:00 – Jeni Miller on interconnections between climate and human health
29:30 – Climate crisis puts pressure on global health systems
34:30 – Ways health care systems can better prepare for climate impacts
44:30 – Connection between climate change and reproductive/sexual health
51:30 – Climate change exacerbates existing inequalities for women and girls around the world
56:00 – Navigating efforts by the Trump administration to increase fertility and birth rate while cutting social services
58:30 – Climate One More Thing
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