The Health Effects of Climate Change (includes Kris Ebi)

The December 2020 issue of Health Affairs is the first-ever focused exclusively on the intersection of climate and health. It covers topics including the health sector’s contribution to carbon emissions and other forms of pollution, how communities are affected by and adapting to the changing climate, and policies to protect against further damage. Kristie Ebi, UW CHanGE, served as theme adviser of the issue. 

Why the Collapsing Global Birth Rate Won’t Save us From Climate Change (Quartz - quotes Kristie Ebi)

Overpopulation has been a threat to the planet since long before anyone heard of climate change.

English economist Thomas Malthus first sounded an alarm about the potential for population growth to overwhelm the planet's natural resources in 1798. The alarm rang again in 1968 with Paul Erlich's doomsday treatise "The Population Bomb," and has reverberated since in the background of the climate crisis: All else being equal, more people means more emissions, more hungry mouths, more potential victims of natural catastrophes.

The Latest Summer Forecast Calls for Deadly Heat Waves (Popular Science, Quotes Kristie Ebi)

It’s virtually certain that 2020 will be on the top five list of hottest years on record for the planet, according to atmospheric scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In a briefing, NOAA officials announced their three-month outlook for this summer, with above average temperatures expected across almost all of the United States. The likelihood of excessive heat is highest in the West and Northeast.

Kristie Ebi Receives Honorary, Lifetime NASEM Title

Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington School of Public Health was recently designated a National Associate of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, an honorary title that recognizes Ebi’s extraordinary service to help provide analysis and advice to the government and the public on matters of science, engineering and medicine.

Rising CO2 Levels are Making Food Less Nutritious. It Could Cause a Global Malnutrition Crisis (Business Insider - Quotes Kristie Ebi)

The huge amount of carbon dioxide we are producing and pumping into the Earth's atmosphere is causing much more damage than previously thought.

Rising CO2 levels aren't just responsible not for global warming; they also have a massive impact on the global food system, according to a Science Advances study. An increase in carbon dioxide can significantly reduce the level of micronutrients in certain plants. 

Baking Cities Advance "Slowly" in Race Against Rising Heat Threat (Reuters - Features Kristie Ebi)

With urban populations surging around the world, cities will struggle to keep residents safe from fast-growing heat risks turbo-charged by climate change, scientists and public health experts warned this week.

Heat is already the leading cause of deaths from extreme weather in countries including the United States. The problem is particularly severe in cities, where temperature extremes are rising much faster than the global average, they said.

US Foreign Policy Could Halt Today’s Major Killers, Prevent Tomorrow’s Outbreaks (Journal of International Affairs - Features Kristie Ebi)

United States action on global pandemics could save lives, address significant foreign policy interests and boost economic prosperity, according to a new analysis from leading researchers, including Kristie Ebi, an expert on global change and health at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

New Computer Model Predicts Where Ebola Might Strike Next

Predicting where Ebola might strike next could become easier, thanks to a new computer model. The model tracks how changes in the environment and in human societies could affect the deadly virus’s spread. It predicts that Ebola outbreaks could become as much as 60 percent more likely by 2070 if the world continues on a path toward a warmer climate and a cooling economy.

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