May 20th, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Climate change is impacting the environment and human health. In recent years, people have been experiencing impacts resulting from increased incidence of wildfire and smoke, higher summer temperatures, and pandemic disease.
How can we prepare for the health effects that result from the increasing rate of climate change? Up-to-date information about the impacts of climate change on health was reviewed in this webinar, with a focus on topics that are relevant for Marin such as wildfire, air quality, heat, smoke, infectious diseases, tick and mosquito borne diseases, climate anxiety, and more. The discussion included how individuals can maintain optimum health in a warming world.
Katherine Gundling, MD is professor emerita at UCSF in the Allergy and Immunology Program. In 2018, responding to the impact of wildfire smoke on her patients’ health, she began to focus on climate change and health. She helped develop the UCSF Center for Climate, Health and Equity, is the Director of Academic Engagement for the Office of Sustainability and is on the Academic Senate Committee on Sustainability. Dr. Gundling worked with the governor’s office to produce the Health and Climate Resource Guide, for the Global Climate Action Summit.
Anna O’Malley, MD is an integrative family and community medicine physician at the Coastal Health Alliance in West Marin and is the founder and director of Natura Institute for Ecology and Medicine at Commonweal in Bolinas. She contributes frequently to the Point Reyes Light on issues of sustainability and human health, and weaves ecological consciousness into her practice.