Magazines: Yale Public Health and Focus Articles

Here at the Yale School of Public Health, we’re committed to creating systems solutions to the world’s most pressing health problems. From innovations in cancer diagnosis, to work on humanitarian crises across the globe, to a new research leadership program in India, to collaboration with New Haven community groups to reduce health disparities, we are using science to create a healthier world.

As the world experiences one climate change-related public health disaster after another, the declaration by a Lancet Commission of academics and editors of The Lancet medical journal in 2009 that climate change is “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century” is becoming more real.

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai last December, known as COP28, was a pivotal moment for public health, with strong and meaningful youth participation.

My path to researching climate change and mental health was indirect. I applied to graduate programs in clinical psychology with the goal of studying how social determinants of health shape the educational and mental health trajectories of members of marginalized populations.

Despite its impacts, awareness of climate change is relatively low, particularly in heavily affected regions like the Global South. Research has shown that in this region where most low-emitting, highly impacted countries are located, about 40% to 65% of adults have never heard of climate change, compared to more than 90% of adults in the Global North who are aware of climate change.

Kitchen stoves are mundane appliances, although cooking is often part of our most nostalgic memories. Growing up, my grandfather would pick me up from school. When I arrived at our Bronx apartment, I would find my grandmother at the stove making me a snack. My “favorite,” as I called it, was a plate of cut up hot dogs, French fries, and scrambled eggs.

In a time defined by climate hazards and their profound impact on community health, the role of state governments in addressing these challenges has never been more crucial. This essay spotlights the measures taken by three health departments to address and lessen the impacts from extreme weather induced by climate change, and foster resilience within their communities.

Connecticut stands at a critical time for building climate and health resiliency. With growing climate-related health risks from heat, extreme weather, vector-borne disease, and air pollution, this is an all-hands moment requiring urgent action and collaboration to ensure everyone is safe, healthy, and resilient in a changing climate.

When we talk about heat, what are we talking about? The health effects of temperature are really two-fold, if it gets either too hot or too cold, people can die, and people can get sick.

Cognition is critical to our well-being, as it determines an individual’s ability to contribute to society, make important decisions, and even run daily errands. But our decision-making and learning processes are vulnerable to environmental stressors.