Heat

A new $2.3 million program funded by the US National Science Foundation will educate and equip young scientists to cultivate resilience to climate impacts such as flooding and extreme heat.

Two teams of researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have been awarded grants from the University of Washington Population Health Initiative to support research on the health impacts of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.

Associate Teaching Professor Tania Busch IsaksenHeat-related deaths are widespread across Washington state, and they occur even in regions that typically have milder climates, according to a

Diana Marquez MS, Applied Occupational Hygiene Hometown Grandview, WA Future plans A career with Washington State Department of Labor & Industries “The most meaningful thing has been getting to change workers’ perspectives around the work we do in occupational health and safety.”

DEOHS Assistant Professor Nicole Errett How do you plan ahead for the unforeseen?

Learn more about our work on the health impacts of extreme heat Extreme heat kills more people in the US than any other weather event. Scientists expect climate change to make this worse; already, 37% of heat-related deaths are thought to be due to climate change.

Juliette Randazza MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Master in Public Administration Hometown Andover, MA Future plans Entering public service in local or state government, working on environmental policy and management and their impact on health

Two international research projects co-led by researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were recently awarded Tier I pilot grants from the UW Population Health Initiative (PHI). The grants support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof of concept.

Register now to join us Tuesday, March 8, for a panel discussion about the IPCC report with four co-authors from UW DEOHS

Farmers struggling to adapt to rising temperatures in tropical regions can unleash the benefits of natural cooling, alongside a host of other wins, simply by dotting more trees across their pasturelands. For the first time, a study led by the University of Washington puts tangible numbers to the cooling effects of this practice.

In 2021, the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomed new faculty, forged collaborations in climate and health, and continued our innovative, community-oriented environmental health research on areas including air pollution, COVID-19 and the far-reaching health impacts of wildfire smoke across Washington state. Explore our top stories below.

The evidence has been clear for some time: Climate change presents a dire threat to human health. Unfortunately, as a result of inaction on the issue, the prognosis is getting worse.

Outdoor workers in the world’s lower-latitude tropical forests may face a greater risk of heat-related deaths and unsafe working conditions because of deforestation and climate warming, according to a new study led by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and Indonesia’s Mulawarman U

Watch a recording of the Lancet Series on Heat and Health webinar   The extreme heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest this summer made news not only for its record-breaking temperatures, but also for the trag

Without the cooling powers of trees, workers in deforested areas are less productive, according to new research from the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other collaborators.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the mostly un-air-conditioned Pacific Northwest, summer temperature spikes can be uncomfortable. But for outdoor workers and other vulnerable groups, they can be deadly.  Research led by the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) has found that on hotter days:

What’s the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke? What’s the "half-half" rule for staying hydrated? Which two common medical conditions put you at greater risk for heat illness? With our Pacific Northwest summer now in full sizzle, people who work outdoors should take extra precautions to keep themselves safe in the heat.

Howard Frumkin is Senior Vice President with the Trust for Public Land and Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health, where he served as Dean from 2010-2016. After serving as Dean, he led the “Our Planet, Our Health” initiative at the Wellcome Trust in London from 2018-2019.

Dr. Fenske retired in July 2019, but has been rehired to work with the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health (PNASH) Center. He served as the PNASH Center Director from 2006-2017. His work has focused on the evaluation of environmental health risks in special populations, such as children, farm workers, and farm producers.

Dr. Spector is a physician-scientist with a focus on the prevention and management of adverse health outcomes related to heat exposure in working populations. 

Dr. Hess is Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Global Health and Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington. He serves as the director of the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE). Dr. Hess has an MD and an MPH in global environmental health and is residency-trained and board-certified in emergency medicine.

Dr. Kristie L. Ebi is Professor in the University of Washington Center for Health and the Global Environment. She has been conducting research and practice on the health risks of climate variability and change for nearly 25 years.

Tania Busch Isaksen is Associate Teaching Professor and the Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).