Wednesday’s 50th anniversary of Earth Day won’t be marked by widespread official rallies or demonstrations — such gatherings would be irresponsible during this global pandemic, even if they were allowed.
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.
As lockdowns sweep the country and people prepare to work from home for months, many are wondering whether springtime’s warmer temperatures will provide much-needed relief from the coronavirus. Others, including President Donald Trump, have made the case that it’s a certainty.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When mosquito season brought past dengue outbreaks to regions across the Asian tropics, Nepal hardly had to worry. The high-altitude Himalayan country was typically too chilly for the disease-carrying insects to live. But with climate change opening new paths for the viral disease, Nepal is now reeling from an unprecedented outbreak.
At least 9,000 people — from 65 of Nepal’s 77 districts — have been diagnosed with dengue since August, including six patients who have died, according to government health data.
Around this time last year, news outlets blared alarming headlines: Breathing the air outside was as bad as smoking several cigarettes. Wildfire haze blotted out the sun and turned the moon orange. Weather apps simply listed the forecast as “smoke.”
Just because this summer has been clear, though, doesn’t mean that the environment is doing just fine.
Sometimes you have to spend money to save money — and a major new report finds that spending $1.8 trillion on climate adaptation projects would result in $7.1 trillion in total net benefits. The report predicts that the most impressive returns will come from investments that strengthen early warning systems for disasters like storms and floods.