Blog

Jaime Nuño-Sanchez died on September 21, 2015 in Thermal, CA after taking a break from picking lemons; the apparent temperature was 105. Nuño-Sanchez was a seasoned picker with 30 years of experience working in the Coachella Valley, yet he still succumbed to the heat, leaving behind his wife and three children. Read on to learn more about agricultural workers and extreme heat in the age of climate change.

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Currently, 10 states are battling large wildfires, such as California’s Sand Fire (>37,000 acres burned) and Sobranes Fire (>23,000 acres burned). Read on to learn more about how wildfires impact public health, and public health systems.  

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Climate change is already impacting the health of people around the world. As future healthcare practitioners, medical students have an obligation to act to mitigate climate change and protect the health of their future patients. They can lead the charge in reducing emissions and bending the curve on warming in many ways – this blog has some suggestions on how to get started!

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In April of 2014, tropical storm Ita drenched the Western Pacific. Two and a half feet of rain fell through the Solomon Islands over the four-day disaster, bursting river banks and causing mud-heavy flash floods. Twenty-two people died and over 10,000 people were displaced. Hundreds of homes were destroyed along with subsistence food gardens. The economic impact of the floods was valued at $107.8 million USD – approximately 9.2 percent of the Solomon Island’s gross domestic product (GDP).

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When Dave Rozell became the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Manager for a small local health department, the last thing he expected was that he would be working 24/7 to provide water to over 5,000 residents whose faucets ran dry. But in Tulare County, CA, an unrelenting drought is stressing the local economy and causing an unprecedented level of hardship.

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Climate change is a known “threat multiplier,” posing the greatest danger for communities already bearing the burden of health and environmental challenges. On December 16, PHI partnered with Grantmakers in Health, the Health and Environmental Funders Network, and the Convergence Partnership to for a funders-only briefing on climate change, equity, and health.

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