Category Archives: climate change and health

Climate change is still “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”

Posted on July 10, 2015 by tbach

Two recent reports add to the growing call for linking climate change laws with public health. From the U.K., the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change followed up on its 2009 announcement that global warming “is the 21st century’s … Continue reading →

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Eat your veggies . . . and mitigate global warming

Posted on February 23, 2015 by tbach

According to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), a panel of scientists that recommends updates to the Dietary Guidelines to the U.S. Department of Agriculture every five years, Americans should think about their own health and that of the environment … Continue reading →

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Turn off a light, save environmental health?

Posted on January 14, 2015 by tbach

This recent study, entitled Altruism, self-interest, and energy consumption, tested the common belief that putting a price on an activity has the most influence on changing human behavior. To determine what motivates the most energy conservation, approximately 120 young Los Angeles couples and families had … Continue reading →

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Doctors and climate change awareness

Posted on January 8, 2015 by tbach

If it’s true that an apple a day might keep the doctor away (and believe it or not, the jury is still out on Vitamin C and the common cold), could a majority of thoracic physicians help their patients improve their … Continue reading →

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NPR on Climate Change and Health

Posted on January 1, 2015 by tbach

Although the UNFCCC negotiators express concerns about climate change’s impact on human health, there is little in the treaty’s governance structure to induce specific action on the issue.  A 2014 round up on NPR this week singled out the contribution … Continue reading →

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UN Panel Releases Report on the Impacts of Climate Change

Posted on March 31, 2014 by caitlin

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Working Group II released the most recent contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), the second of three reports the IPCC will ultimately synthesize and release in December, 2014. Established in 1988 by … Continue reading →

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Africa on track to contribute majority of global particulate matter

Posted on March 12, 2014 by tbach

A study co-authored by researchers from France and Cote d’Ivoire concludes that Africa will contribute as much as 55% of the world’s particle pollutants by 2030.  In 2005, the continent accounted for 5% of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions and … Continue reading →

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New reports from IoM on Agent Orange and Biofuels

Posted on December 11, 2013 by tbach

As I’ve written before, the Institute of Medicine produces plentiful publications connecting the environment to human health. Two new reports that came out at the end of 2013 are cases in point, one providing limited new data in an ongoing debate … Continue reading →

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A New Era of Climate Change by 2047?

Posted on October 10, 2013 by caitlin

A study published in Nature predicts that by 2047, mean temperatures will continuously fall outside the bounds of historical variability. The natural cycle of temperature fluctuation has resulted in a general trend of warming, but each year is not necessarily … Continue reading →

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Public Health and Environmental Protection

Posted on September 30, 2013 by tbach

While Caitlin attended the VLS symposium on Friday, I was at the University of Michigan Law School’s Environmental Law and Policy Program’s fall conference.  Co-sponsored by the school’s Environmental Law Society and the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law, … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, built environment, climate change and health, environmental cleanup, environmental health, environmental health law, environmental justice, EPA, Fine Air Particulates, lead, mercury, NRDC, pesticides, pollution control standards, precautionary principle, public health, risk assessment, risk management, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on Public Health and Environmental Protection