When extreme heat sets in, it can feel even hotter in the city. This is known as the urban heat island effect. “There are areas of Chelsea on the same day and time. It’s six or seven degrees hotter when you’re surrounded by pavement than if you’re in an area that has more greenspace and trees,” said Dr. Madeleine Scammell, an associate professor of environmental health at Boston University’s School…
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For decades, scientists have been exploring how exposing humans to nature—by planting trees along urban streets, visiting forests or even just growing houseplants—may improve physical and psychological health. Now researchers are also testing whether we can reap at least some of the same benefits from experiencing nature in virtual reality. This strange twist speaks to some recent, powerful findings on the health impacts of nature exposure. “We are seeing new research,…
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Despite progress in many countries, air pollution, and especially fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) remains a global health threat: over 6 million premature cardiovascular and respiratory deaths/yr. have been attributed to household and outdoor air pollution. In this viewpoint, we identify present gaps in air pollution monitoring and regulation, and how they could be strengthened in future mitigation policies to more optimally reduce health impacts. We conclude that there is…
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Our climate is changing, and the health and well-being of children will continue to be affected in many ways. Children are uniquely vulnerable to climate change due to a variety of physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social factors. Climate change-related impacts in childhood can have lifelong consequences due to effects on learning, physical health, chronic disease, and other complications. This national-scale, multi-sector report quantifies projected health effects associated with extreme heat,…
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Edited by Stefan Bouzarovski, School of Environment, Education and Development, The University of Manchester, UK, Sara Fuller, School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia and JPB Fellow Tony G. Reames, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, US Offering a unique and critical perspective on energy justice, this Handbook delves into an emerging field of inquiry encapsulating multiple strands of scholarship on energy systems. Covering key topics including…
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Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) hosted the Invest in Nature Summit. This event brought together federal government leaders, academia, industry, non-profits, philanthropies, and others to celebrate the progress being made through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, and underscore the importance of continued efforts to drive even more progress. This event featured OSTP Director Arati Prabhakar, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy…
The White House Council on Environmental Quality has tapped Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning, Marccus Hendricks, to serve as a Senior Advisor for Climate and Community Resilience on the inaugural Environmental Justice team. A one-year appointment through the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Hendricks will support the development of federal policies, initiatives and efforts that advance place-based strategies and solutions related to water, hazard…
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Sleep is fundamentally necessary for life, yet racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately affected by poor sleep health and sleep disorders. A growing body of research helps establish that sleep health disparities affecting racial and ethnic groups are a substantial public health problem. We must continue to work to identify and understand the causes, extent, and implications of unequally distributed sleep problems in America in order to intervene. Shorter sleep…
This commentary originally appeared on The Conversation. On Dec. 30, 2021, one of the most destructive wildfires on record in Colorado swept through neighborhoods just a few miles from our offices at the University of Colorado Boulder. The flames destroyed over 1,000 buildings, yet when we drove through the affected neighborhoods, some houses were still completely intact right next to homes where nothing was left to burn. Although the people who lived in these still-standing…
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This Award recognizes the quick-response science and service conducted by a set of pathfinding partners at the first signs, during and after the Marshall Fire roared through Superior and Louisville, Colorado, at the end of 2021. A diverse team of researchers set to work immediately, collaborating seamlessly to figure out how to serve citizens in the short term as well as in the long term with weather and fire assessments…