Episode 7 - The Intersection of Climate and Health

Show Notes

Hosts:  Jeff Cunningham and Ryan Harris

Guest: Dr. Jesse Bell, the Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment, UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, College of Public Health

Description:  Ryan and Jeff sit down with Dr. Jesse Bell, a distinguished scientist who is leading national climate-informed human health research (everything from air and water quality, heat exposure, and vector-borne disease) to improve human health outcomes as climate changes accelerate.

References:

• Zoe becomes the world’s first named heatwave (Scientific American)
• President launches programs to help Americans deal with extreme heat and higher air conditioning bills (Yahoo News)
• Pacific Northwest sizzles, a precursor to nationwide heatwave next week (Washington Post)
• The impacts of climate change on human health in the U.S. (USGCRP; 2016)
• Exposure science in an age of rapidly changing climate (Journal of Exposure Science and Epidemiology)
• The book of beautiful questions (Warren Berger)
• New Heat.gov information and resources (NOAA)
• Air quality predictions (Breezometer)
• Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (Univ. of Nebraska)

Weather and climate in the news

(0:01:23)

Dr. Jesse Bell odd jobs; federal inmate watch program, hog barns, and wildfire fighting

(0:07:41)

Interdisciplinary climate and health work at NOAA and the CDC

(0:11:08)

Technology gaps between climate and health and what the Water for Food Global Institute is doing to close the gaps

(0:22:38)

Climate links to disease

(0:33:09)

The need for personalized heat health warnings

(0:37:49)