Wildfire Smoke Increases the Risk of Contracting Covid-19

Bloomberg

As the world warms, disasters collide. That’s happening right now, as health experts warn that  exposure to wildfire smoke across North America increases the risks of catching COVID-19 and worsens the impacts for people who already have or are particularly susceptible to the virus.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Solving for climate: (Health and safety) in (climate) numbers

American Geophysical Union

More severe and numerous floods, droughts, and heat waves impact a wide range of health outcomes, and shifting biomes may spread diseases to new places. How do scientists understand which portions of health effects are caused by climate change, and how can health organizations be prepared?

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Spain’s April heat nearly impossible without climate change

AP News

Record-breaking April temperatures in Spain, Portugal and northern Africa were made 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change and would have been almost impossible in the past, according to a new study.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Why Asia’s early heat wave is so alarming

Vox

Climate change is making a safe, slow adjustment to heat much harder by upending what we’d typically expect as seasons change. Summers are getting longer and more intense, encroaching on winter and extending long into the fall. Large parts of Asia have been hit particularly hard the past two weeks. Axios reported how heat records have fallen throughout China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand, as areas have surpassed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

WA, Seattle launch campaign to plant thousands of urban trees

The Seattle Times

Officials with the state and city of Seattle on Thursday launched a renewed effort to plant trees in urban areas most affected by pollution, flooding and other extreme weather events, like the unprecedented 2021 heat wave that smashed record highs and killed more than 150 people in Washington.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Where more people will die — and live — because of hotter temperatures

Washington Post

The scientific paper published in the June 2021 issue of the journal Nature Climate Change was alarming. Between 1991 and 2018, the peer-reviewed study reported, more than one-third of deaths from heat exposure were linked to global warming. Hundreds of news outlets covered the findings. The message was clear: climate change is here, and it’s already killing people.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Planting More Trees In Cities Could Slash Summer Heat Deaths, Study Finds

Forbes

Planting more trees in cities could cut the number of people dying from high temperatures in summer, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal on Tuesday, a strategy that could help mitigate the effects of climate change as it continues to drive temperatures upwards.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Can Climate Labels on Menus Turn People Off Cheeseburgers?

Bloomberg

Climate labels on fast-food menus can help steer people in the U.S. away from ordering beef — the food with the worst impact on the climate — and toward meals that are better for the planet, according to new research.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

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