Healthcare take note: every greenhouse gas emission matters

<p>From severe weather such as the destructive wildfires in California to air pollution nationwide, there's a growing body of knowledge linking climate change to human health.</p><p>On this episode of A Health Podyssey, host Alan Weil interviews Dr. Kristie Ebi, a professor in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, to discuss this complex relationship.</p><p>Ebi served as the theme advisor for the December edition of Health Affairs, which is fully dedicated to exploring <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/toc/hlthaff/39/12">that link between climate and health</a>. She published two papers in the issue. One notes that the people most harmed by climate change are those who have so far contributed the least to <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01125">greenhouse gas emissions</a>. The second connects how detection and attribution studies could quantify how <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01004">climate change is affecting health</a>.</p><p>They note that while emissions have fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not enough to make a long-term impact. With the <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01247">healthcare industry responsible for about 4.5% of the worldwide greenhouse gas emissions</a>, hospitals and health systems can take the moment to re-evaluate their relationship to climate change.</p><p>Listen to hear why Dr. Ebi believes individuals shouldn't feel hopeless in the face of climate change.</p><p>Subscribe: <a href="https://feeds.transistor.fm/a-health-podyssey">RSS</a> | <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-health-podyssey/id1533852530">Apple Podcasts</a> | <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL2EtaGVhbHRoLXBvZHlzc2V5">Google Podcasts</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3tAEbXdlzlcgjLTHfJMYqR">Spotify</a> | <a href="https://castro.fm/itunes/1533852530">Castro</a> | <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=57661