Climate Change and Health: Indicators and Pathways

* See Chapters Below the description.

Climate Change and Health: Indicators and Pathways was a live event on April 15, 2022 hosted by Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania (PSR PA)

The influences of weather and climate on human health are varied and increasingly alarming. Exposure to health hazards related to climate change has the capacity to affect all individuals physical and mental health and may do so by harming air, water, food and shelter on which they rely. The frequency, severity, duration, and location of weather and climate phenomena - like rising temperatures, heavy rains and droughts - are changing. This means that areas already experiencing health-threatening weather and climate phenomena are likely to experience worsening impacts. In this regard, socially and economically disadvantaged communities face the greatest risks.

Climate Change and Health: Indicators and Pathways will focus on mental health and wellbeing, the built environment and populations of concern, and social and health inequities.

This virtual event is open to health professionals and the general public.

​The speakers include: Julie Grant, Managing Editor, Allegheny Front; Gary Belkin, MD, PhD, MPH, Founder, Billion Minds Institute; Alice Thompson, Founder, Visible Hands Collaborative; Lorna Rosenberg, Program Manager, Women for a Healthy Environment; Katherine Crowe, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, HARBOR; HEET; Zeyneb Magavi, Co-Executive Director, HEET; Esther Obonyo, PhD, Director, Global Building Network, Penn State University.

CHAPTERS

A range of disasters, including flood, hurricane, typhoons, violent storms, earthquakes, collapsed infrastructure, and pandemic, pose the greatest threat to the poor and most vulnerable in society as they are more likely to live in homes that are more vulnerable to the impact of these disasters. Reliance on ‘hard’ engineering and infrastructure solutions alone cannot solve this problem. This presentation will discuss on-going research work that is directed at developing a framework that integrates the roles of human, social and natural capital in reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience. The aim is to identify viable pathways for improved resilience for particularly vulnerable, low-income housing communities.

PSR PA partnered with Halt the Harm Network to bring you this event.