Course Overview
Climate Change And Health is a graduate course taught at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds about:
- The impacts of climate change on human health
- The mechanisms responsible for such impacts
- Potential approaches to address these challenges.
It is a weekly online class that offers two lectures each Wednesday evening. Experts on the topic from USA and Canada were invited to share and present their knowledge on climate change and potential effect on our health.
The speakers have agreed for their presentation to be recorded so we could share it with your community. To view one of the topics, please click on the recording. Along with the individual videos a full playlists is also provided. Additionally, the slides for each session have been provided, which can be viewed by either clicking on the thumbnail or downloading directly. Thank you for taking the time to listen to the presentation.
Full Playlist
FEB 3, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Sehgal)
Course Overview
Ash Sehgal, MD
Reading
- Pages 4-5 of The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States. Available at https://health2016.globalchange.gov/high/ClimateHealth2016_FullReport.pdf
- Parker CL et al. The changing climate: managing health impacts. American Family Physician. 2019;100:618-626. Available at https://www.aafp.org/afp/2019/1115/afp20191115p618.pdf
Slides:
FEB 3, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Climate Change: Mechanisms, Evidence and Their Impact On Health
Mark Stewart, PhD
Reading
- The causes of climate change. Available at https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
- The true cost of carbon pollution. How the social cost of carbon improves policies to address climate change. Available at https://www.edf.org/true-cost-carbon-pollution
Slides:
FEB 10, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Climate Change and Food Systems
Rosa Hand, RD, PhD, Department of Nutrition, Case Western
Reading
- Myers SS et al. Climate change and global food systems: potential impacts on food security and undernutrition. Annual Review of Public Health. 2017;38:259-277. Available in Canvas.
- Drenowski A et al. Toward healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Current Developments in Nutrition. 2020;4:nzaa083. Available in Canvas.
Slides:
FEB 17, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Sehgal)
Communicating with the Public About Climate Change
Diana Pi, MD
Reading
n/a
FEB 17, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Nonguierma)
Climate Change and Disability
Kristen Berg, PhD, Population Health Research Institute, MetroHealth Medical Center
Reading
• Analytical study on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change. April 2020. Human Rights Council. United Nations. Available at https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/A_HRC_44_30_E.pdf
Slides:
FEB 24, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Pi)
Measuring Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Change
Adam Perzynski, PhD, Population Health Research Institute, MetroHealth Medical Center
Reading
- Flanagan BE et al. A social vulnerability index for disaster management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 2011; volume 8; issue 1; article 3. Available at https://svi.cdc.gov/A%20Social%20Vulnerability%20Index%20for%20Disaster%20Management.pdf
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Assessing health vulnerability to climate change: a guide for health departments. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/pubs/assessinghealthvulnerabilitytoclimatechange.pdf
- Pereira LM et al. Seeding change by visioning good anthropocenes. Solutions Journal. 2019; volume 10; issue 3. Available at https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/seeding-change-visioning-good-anthropocenes/
- Read a web page on the MetroHealth EcoDistrict (https://ecodistricts.org/registered-districts/metrohealth-community-district/) or one of these EcoDistrict case studies (https://ecodistricts.org/case-studies-stories-from-the-neighborhood/)
FEB 24, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Heat Stress and Kidney Disease
Anne Huml, MD, Case Western Center for Health Equity Engagement Education and Research and Cleveland Clinic Division of Nephrology
Reading
- Hopp S et al. Medical diagnoses of heat wave-related hospital admissions in older adults. Preventive Medicine. 2018;110:81-85. Available in Canvas.
- Barraclough K A et al. Climate change and kidney disease – threats and opportunities. Kidney International. 2017;92:526-530. Available in Canvas.
Slides:
MAR 3, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Pi)
Infectious Diseases and Climate Change
Katherine Dobbs, MD, Infectious Diseases, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital
Reading
- Ogden NH, Gachon P. Climate change and infectious diseases: what can we expect. Canada Communicable Disease Report. 2019;45:76-80. Available at https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/reports-publications/canada-communicable-disease-report-ccdr/monthly-issue/2019-45/issue-4-april-4-2019/ccdrv45i04a01-eng.pdf
Reading for Back-Up lecture
- Ryan SJ et al. Shifting transmission risk for malaria in Africa with climate change. Malaria Journal. 2020;19:70. Available at https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-020-03224-6
- Nursey-Bray M, Palmer R. Country, climate change adaptation and colonization: insights from an Indigenous adaptation planning process, Australia. Heliyon. 2018;4:e00565. Available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844017332929
MAR 3, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Air Degradation, Allergies, and Pulmonary Diseases
- Daryl Thornton, MD, MPH, Pulmonary and Critical Care, MetroHealth Medical Center
Reading
- Kurt O et al. Pulmonary health effects of air pollution. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. 2016;22:138-143. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4776742/pdf/nihms-759816.pdf
Slides:
MAR 10, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Sehgal)
Climate Change and Zoonotic Diseases: Impacts on Ecosystems and Human Health. Case Study Rift Valley Fever, South Africa
Robert Brand, PhD, Cuyahoga County Board of Health
Reading
- Hansen A et al. Experts’ perceptions on China’s capacity to manage emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases in an era of climate change. Zoonoses and Public Health. 2017;64:527-536. Available in Canvas.
MAR 10, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Other Impacts of Fossil Fuels Besides Climate Change
Timothy Ciesielski, ScD, MD, MPH, Swetland Center for Environmental Health, Case Western
Reading
- Ciesielski T. Climate change and public health. New Solutions. 2017;27:8-11. Available at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1048291117691075
- Landrigan PL et al. The false promise of natural gas. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;382:104-107. Available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMp1913663?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
- Smith KR et al. Energy and human health. Annual Review of Public Health. 2013;34:159-188. Available at https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114404
Slides:
MAR 17, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Cardiovascular Effects of Climate Change
Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, Cardiovascular Medicine, University Hospitals
Reading
- Al-Kindi SG et al. Environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease: lessons learned from air pollution. Nature Reviews Cardiology. 2020;17:656-672. Available in Canvas.
Challenges in conducting research on climate change
MAR 17, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Sehgal)
Ethical and Social Justice Aspects
Beamer-Schneider Professor in Ethics, Department of Philosophy, Case Western
Reading
- Gardiner SM. Motivating (or baby-stepping toward) a global constitutional convention for future generations. Environmental Ethics. 2019;41:199-220. Available in Canvas.
- Whyte K. Settler colonialism, ecology, and environmental injustice. Environment and Society: Advances in Research. 2018;9:125-144. Available in Canvas.
- Hourdequin M. Youth climate movement puts ethics at the center of the global debate. The Conversation. September 18, 2019. Available at https://theconversation.com/youth-climate-movement-puts-ethics-at-the-center-of-the-global-debate-123746
- Thompson A. Adaptation, transformation, and development: environmental change and rethinking the human good. Environmental Ethics. 2020;42:5-20. Available in Canvas.
Slides:
MAR 24, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Nonguierma)
MetroHealth Sustainability and Climate Change Initiatives
Sarah O’Keeffe, MBA, Director of Sustainability, MetroHealth Medical Center
Reading
- Greenhouse gas reduction toolkit. Practice Greenhealth. Available at https://practicegreenhealth.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/PracticeGreenhealth_GHG_Toolkit_0.pdf
MAR 24, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Stewart)
Worker Safety and Health
- Patrick Behrer, PhD, Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University
Reading
- Kiefer M et al. Worker health and safety and climate change in the Americas: issues and research needs. Pan American Journal of Public Health. 2016;40:192-197. Available at https://iris.paho.org/bitstream/handle/10665.2/31236/v40n3a8-192-97.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- Kjellstrom T et al. Heat, Human Performance, and Occupational Health: A Key Issue for the Assessment of Global Climate Change Impacts. Annu. Rev. of Public Health. 2016;37:97-112. Available at https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032315-021740
Slides:
MAR 31, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Sehgal)
Health Effects of Wildfires
Wayne Cascio, MD, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency
Reading
- Holm SM et al. Health effects of wildfire smoke in children and public health tools. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 2020;31:1-20. Available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-020-00267-4
- Xu R et al. Wildfires, global climate change, and human health. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;383:2173-2181. Available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr2028985
MAR 31, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Nonguierma)
Indigenous Communities
Jamie Donatuto, PhD, Environmental Health Analyst, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Larry Campbell (wanaseah), Swinomish Elder and Community Health Specialist
Reading
- Morrison J. An ancient people with a modern climate plan. The Washington Post. Nov 24, 2020. Available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/11/24/native-americans-climate-change-swinomish/?arc404=true
- Donatuto J et al. The “value” of values-driven data in identifying Indigenous health and climate change priorities. Climatic Change. 2020;158:161-180. Available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-019-02596-2
Slides:
April 7, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Pi)
Shared Drivers of COVID-19 and Climate Change (30 minutes)
Holly Rosencranz, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana
Legal and Policy Perspectives (30 minutes)
Warren Lavey, JD, College of Law and Campus Honors Program, University of Illinois
Reading
- Coronavirus, climate change, and the environment. Available at https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/subtopics/coronavirus-and-climate-change/
- Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. US Call to Action on Climate, Health, and Equity. Available at https://climatehealthaction.org/media/cta_docs/US_Call_to_Action.pdf
- Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition. Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act Factsheet. Available at http://ilcleanjobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CJ-Bill-Factsheet.pdf
Slides:
April 14, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Pi)
Health Sector Sustainability
Aparna Bole, MD, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital
Reading
- Climate-smart healthcare. World Bank Group. Available at http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/322251495434571418/pdf/113572-WP-PUBLIC-FINAL-WBG-Climate-smart-Healthcare-002.pdf
- 2030: Next steps to healthcare climate leadership. National Academy of Medicine. Available at https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/10-13-2020/fall-2020-hcs-meeting
APR 14, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Nonguierma)
Climate Change, Plastic Pollution, and Effects on Human Health
Robert Brand, PhD, Cuyahoga County Board of Health
Reading
- Jiang B et al. Health impacts of environmental contamination of micro- and nanoplastics: a review. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. 2020;25:29. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7362455/pdf/12199_2020_Article_870.pdf
Slides:
April 21, 6pm (Lecture moderator: Pi)
Vulnerable Populations and Climate Change
Diana Pi, MD
Reading
- USGCRP, 2016: The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. Crimmins, A., J. Balbus, J.L. Gamble, C.B. Beard, J.E. Bell, D. Dodgen, R.J. Eisen, N. Fann, M.D. Hawkins, S.C. Herring, L. Jantarasami, D.M. Mills, S. Saha, M.C. Sarofim, J. Trtanj, and L. Ziska, Eds. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, 312 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.7930/J0R49NQX. Available at https://health2016.globalchange.gov/low/ClimateHealth2016_FullReport_small.pdf (p. 247-264)
April 21, 7:15pm (Lecture moderator: Nonguierma)
Green New Deal and Climate Change
Patrick Murray, MD, MS, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (retired), Case Western
Reading
- Sachs J. Getting to a carbon-free economy. The American Prospect. Available at https://prospect.org/greennewdeal/getting-to-a-carbon-free-economy/
Slides:
