• Health

Top Ten Stories of 2020: The Pandemic and Its Links To Pollution and Biodiversity Loss

• #30x30
• #climatecrisis
• #COVID19
• pandemic

This year has been indelibly shaped by the COVID pandemic — it literally changed everything.  What has become clear as a result is that environmental injustice was exacerbated by the pandemic, and if we don’t repair our relationship with the natural world we are going to face more deadly pandemics in the future.  For the […]

• Health

Heightened PFAS Levels Linked to Severe COVID-19

• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• Environmental Justice
• PFAS
• public health

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer A new Danish study has found that elevated levels of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals linked to cancer, in the bloodstream are linked to severe COVID-19. The study observed 323 patients infected with the virus and found that those with elevated levels of the […]

• Health

The Lancet’s Diagnosis: Climate Change Is Bad For Your Health

• climate change
• heat
• pollution
• sea level rise
• The Lancet

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change represent converging crises, according to The Lancet, one of the oldest and most prestigious medical journals in the world.  This year’s edition of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change drives home the point that it is impacting everyone.

Why This Matters: Rising seas and rising temperatures are public health issues. More extreme heat worldwide means that people with pre-existing conditions, people who work outdoors, and the elderly all face a higher risk of heat-related death.

• Health

Ticks Target People as Climate Warms

• climate change
• disease
• ticks
• vector disease

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Contributing Writer A new study presented during the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting revealed that ticks carrying the bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever are more than twice as likely to feed on humans rather than dogs when temperatures rise.  Why This Matters: Ticks are thriving […]

• Health

Heroes of the Week: Grover Wilhelmsen and His Caregivers Caring For Each Other

• #COVID
• healthcare
• Thanksgiving

This week we are grateful for our health, and for the frontline healthcare workers who are taking care of so many of our family, friends, and community members and have been for months. We are inspired by the stories of those who are fighting to recover from COVID and the stories of those healthcare workers […]

• Health

Air Pollution Linked to COVID-19 Deaths Across the World

• #COVID19
• air pollution
• COVID-19

A new study from the journal Cardiovascular Research revealed that long-term exposure to air pollution could be linked to 15% of COVID-19 deaths globally. As Al Jazeera reported the researchers analyzed health data across the world relating to health and air pollution, COVID-19 and SARS – a respiratory illness similar to the new coronavirus disease. […]