Heat Hazards
Extreme heat can be dangerous for runners, cyclists and anyone spending time outdoors: 6 tips for staying safe Above photo: Think carefully before running or cycling in the heat of the day. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images When summer starts with a stifling heat wave, as many places are seeing in 2024, it can pose risks […]
Cooking for the Climate
Food is a central issue in climate change mitigation. Our dietary choices and consumption patterns are critical to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which greatly impact the food supply chain. Every day our climate tells the tale of extremes — whether it’s the hottest summer on record or a polar vortex sweeping the nation. Humans in […]
The Kid Question
Authors Meghan Elizabeth Kallman and Josephine Ferorelli explore reproductive choices with climate change at the door On a warm, February afternoon in Chicago (a line that, having grown up here, I never imagined I’d write), I spoke with authors Meghan Elizabeth Kallman, PhD, and Josephine Ferorelli about their new book, The Conceivable Future, which explores […]
Allergies Getting Worse?
Climate change may be the culprit As the long Chicago winter turned to spring, Lizzie Goodman threw open the windows to her home and, within a couple of days, she and her two young daughters were dealing with sneezes, stuffy noses, itchy eyes, and scratchy throats. Goodman worried they might have Covid-19, but tests came back […]
Scorched Cities
Extreme heatwaves in Chicago and the U.S. are becoming hotter, longer, and deadlier. The greatest health threat worldwide this summer isn’t Covid-19 or mpox. It’s extreme heat. Heat indexes between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (F) — and rising — means danger: cities declaring states of emergency; pools and cooling centers filling to capacity; families […]
Ticks, Lyme Disease, and Climate Change
Local Lyme disease experts warn: Check early and often as climate change ushers in more tick bites The Chicago area has had its share of wild weather extremes recently, from flooding and tornado warnings to deadly heat waves. Now, it’s time to add another threat of nature to your list of concerns: Lyme disease. Spread […]
What You Should Know About Low-Carbon Dieting
There is a strong argument to be made that more of us should follow a low-carbon diet. Food production and dietary preferences are linked to climate change by altering the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. A recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that food production (including post-harvest activities like […]
8 Ways Climate Change Affects Chicagoans’ Health
The United Nations this month released a major climate change report, the first of its kind in eight years. The report outlines what scientists know about global warming and informs policy makers how to slow the planet’s rising temperatures. All of the world’s 195 countries participated in the report’s development, with hundreds of scientists assessing studies […]
Op-Ed: For the Sake of Our Pregnant Mothers, Illinois Needs to Act on Climate Change
Chicago Health is committed to publishing a diversity of opinions. The opinions expressed in this op-ed article are the author’s own. As a practicing obstetrical hospitalist in suburban Cook County, I often see pregnant mothers in their most acute state, when they are having an obstetrical emergency. By the time I see these mothers, the […]
Living with Eco-Anxiety in Age of the Coronavirus
While most news right now focuses on the worldwide emergency response to COVID-19, climate change remains an escalating threat. The current coronavirus pandemic requires immediate action to save millions of lives, but climate change could have even greater devastating effects in the decades to come, intensifying weather patterns, raising sea levels and decimating wildlife. Stay-at-home […]
Global Warming
As temperatures rise, climate change is jeopardizing our health Climate change. Those words might conjure up visions of sea levels rising, Arctic glaciers melting and polar bears heading toward extinction. But global warming is not an abstract thing happening far away. (And it’s certainly not a hoax!) Climate change is happening here and now, and it’s affecting our health […]
