Pathak, Neha. Yale Climate Connections, August 7, 2024.

any people in the continental United States don’t hear much about dengue. But that is likely to change in the face of a record-breaking surge of cases – partly fueled by a warmer and wetter year - across the world.

With only half of 2024 behind us, public health officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are alerting health professionals and the public to arm themselves with information about the painful – and sometimes debilitating and deadly – infection spread through mosquito bites.

Dalby AA, Mahoney DP, Doshi SM, Jaggi P. Are Children's Hospitals Doing Enough to Address the Climate Crisis? Hosp Pediatr. 2024 Jul 30. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2024-007817. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39075642.

The warming of our planet matters to the health, well-being, and future of every child. 1 Due to the nature of infants' and children's biological systems and cognitive immaturity, they are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and air pollution. 1,2 The U.S. healthcare sector itself contributes to the problem and accounts for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). 3 These emissions come directly from hospital operations, indirectly from purchased energy, and the largest category, termed scope 3 emissions, includes purchased goods and services, employee commuting, and waste management. 4 Reducing GHGe can also improve hospitals' operating efficiency and promote healthcare resiliency. 1.

Pathak, Neha. “Is climate change hurting your skin?” Yale Climate Connections, June 17, 2024.

Skincare has always been more challenging in the summer. And climate change has raised the level of difficulty, with frequent hot spells and more exposure to pollution from wildfires that can damage our skin, leading to premature wrinkling, skin discoloration, and sun spots.

It also means potentially higher risks for skin cancer.

Experts I spoke to say children, elderly people, and anyone living in areas exposed to a lot of traffic, wildfire smoke, or other pollution are particularly at risk. But a warming climate could take a toll on anyone’s skin.

In recent years I have even noticed increased skin care challenges for me and my family.

Shreya Doshi, Sharon Vuppula, Preeti Jaggi, Healthcare Sustainability to Address Climate Change: Call for Action to the Infectious Diseases Community, Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Volume 13, Issue 6, June 2024, Pages 306–312, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piae029

The US healthcare system’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change is disproportionately high and harms the public. Several medical specialties are now reassessing how they can mitigate healthcare’s harmful environmental impact. Healthcare sustainability is broadly defined as measures to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and other pollutants generated during the healthcare delivery process. Prior efforts and programs by infectious diseases (ID) professionals, such as antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control can form a framework for ID professionals to help apply this expertise to healthcare environmental sustainability more broadly. This call to action proposes strategies for ID societies and professionals to incorporate climate change education for trainees, increase research and funding opportunities in healthcare sustainability, and calls for action by ID societies to champion system changes to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Barkin JL, Philipsborn RP, Curry CL, et al. Climate Change is an Emerging Threat to Perinatal Mental Health. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. 2024;30(3):683-689. doi:10.1177/10783903221139831

Objective: In this discussion, we build the case for why climate change is an emerging threat to perinatal mental health.

Method: A search of current literature on perinatal and maternal mental health and extreme weather events was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. Only articles focusing on maternal mental health were included in this narrative review.

Results: The perinatal period represents a potentially challenging timeframe for women for several reasons. Necessary role adjustments (reprioritization), changes in one’s ability to access pre-birth levels (and types) of social support, fluctuating hormones, changes in body shape, and possible complications during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum are just a few of the factors that can impact perinatal mental health. Trauma is also a risk factor for negative mood symptoms and can be experienced as the result of many different types of events, including exposure to extreme weather/natural disasters.

Conclusion: While the concepts of “eco-anxiety,” “climate despair,” and “climate anxiety” have garnered attention in the mainstream media, there is little to no discussion of how the climate crisis impacts maternal mental health. This is an important omission as the mother’s mental health impacts the family unit as a whole.