Climate Change

Right now, some 140,000 agricultural workers are picking apples, peaches and other crops at the peak of Washington’s harvest season, just as Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency in response to wildfires burning across the state.

Oceans affect every human life — no matter how far away from a coastline a community may be. Oceans supply fresh water and oxygen, regulate the climate, influence the weather and affect human health. People rely on these large bodies of water for food, income, transportation and recreation. In turn, human activities can impact oceans and the systems they support.

By the end of the century, heat exposure may lead to about 110,000 premature deaths annually across the United States given a high degree of climate warming, suggests a new study published in GeoHealth.

Editor's note: In January 2022, Anna Humphreys and colleagues, including DEOHS Assistant Professor Nicole Errett, published a paper in BMC Public Health on the impacts of rural wildfire smoke on mental health and well-being, and opportunities for adaptation.

Given the extraordinary challenges of this year’s pandemic, the students of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) needed a superhero. Watch a student video honoring Nicole Errett

Kaitlyn Kelly MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Carmel, CA Future plans Continue her work as a policy specialist for the Washington State Department of Health.

Alexa Yadama BS, Environmental Health Hometown Pullman, WA Future plans A career in environmental or public health, and eventually a master’s in public health. “ I really appreciate mixing public health with my science background and helping people with the knowledge I have.”

Read the news release Workers who pick our fruits and vegetables already face harsh conditions in fields during summer harvest months. Those conditions will worsen significantly over the coming decades.

How did Esther Min, a graduate student in the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), end up at a six-hour-long dinner in Kyrgyzstan?

University of Washington students and faculty will tackle pressing health concerns on three continents with the support of awards from the UW Global Innovation Fund to five DEOHS faculty members.

Many state and local health agencies recognize the threat of climate change but need more resources and clearer, more flexible guidance to reduce its impact on public health, according to a new study from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

Read more about the School of Public Health’s role with the Population Health Initiative in the new UW Public Health magazine.

Babies born today will face unprecedented health risks and life-long health consequences from rising temperatures, according to new research published Wednesday from The Lancet.

  Recent estimates in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study show that the combination of air pollution, poor water sanitation and exposure to lead and radon is responsible for 9 million premature deaths each year.

  From flood-damaged Houston to fire-ravaged Paradise, CA, Nicole Errett’s research takes her into the heart of communities trying to recover after catastrophe strikes.

DEOHS Associate Professor Jeremy Hess Researchers from the University of Washington are teaming up with the Swinomish Tribe to evaluate strategies the Swinomish are using to adapt to climate change.

As wildfires spread across the Pacific Northwest last summer, the Seattle area briefly earned the dubious honor of being one of the most polluted cities on earth.

Two 2019 graduates of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) won awards this month at a student research competition held by the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs.

Washington is on the road to 100 percent clean energy with the passage of a new law championed by Gov. Jay Inslee that sets targets for achieving zero-carbon electricity by 2045.

Trees are one of our best allies in combating climate change, capturing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and preventing them from accumulating in the atmosphere.

  Can you solve this medical mystery? A New York woman returned home from a Florida vacation with a fever, headache and chills. Despite treatment, her condition worsened, and she eventually developed severe joint pain and a rash across her body.

Annie Doubleday MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Shoreline, WA Future plans Working on air pollution and climate change issues at the state or local level.

Kholood Altassan PhD, Environmental and Occupational Hygiene Hometown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Future plans Assistant professor at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.

Sea-level rise associated with climate change is already displacing some small indigenous communities, and many others are at risk around the world.

US health care systems should extend their commitment to “do no harm” by ensuring that their own operations are powered by renewable energy, according to a new brief on climate change and health in the United States.

Building back better DEOHS researcher Nicole Errett discusses how communities can build back better after a disaster at a free public lecture on Thursday, Nov. 15, at 12:30 pm in room T-435 of the Magnuson Health Sciences Building at the UW.

The Pacific Northwest’s “new normal” is starting to feel like old normal in Washington’s Methow Valley. This is the fifth summer in a row that wildfire season has hit the Methow Valley especially hard, causing hazardous smoke conditions that persist for weeks and leaving residents feeling trapped and isolated.

Dr. Russ Castner is helping to improve human health—one graduate student at a time. The retired Shoreline dentist never got the chance to use the environmental health degree he earned as one of the first graduates of the UW School of Public Health.

Miriam Calkins PhD, Environmental and Occupational Hygiene Hometown Harvard, Massachusetts Future plans Associate Service Fellow, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Dr. Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning and the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington, where she is also affiliated with the Data Science program. As a geographer, Dr. Chen finds great interest in the synergy of machine learning and satellite imagery analysis.