Wildfires are growing in size and intensity with climate change. Clearly the smoke from these fires has direct health consequences; however, some recent research shows that the concern goes beyond the smoke itself. Kelesidis and colleagues (2025) studied the impact of the 2023 Canadian wildfires on New York. They found that there were the expected … Continue reading
The environmental and social arguments for decreasing animal based protein intake and increasing plant ones have been around for a while. And surely they have convinced some to make changes in their diets. But what about a health link? If you knew that eating more plant proteins as an adult would help you live longer … Continue reading
Insects are the dominant form of animal life on earth. There are more species, more diversity, and more biomass. They are essential for life on the planet engaging in activities like pollination and decomposition. But the population health of 99% of species is poorly understood. Of the 1% of species that have had IUCN assessments, … Continue reading
I’m about to undergo a 30°C temperature change so that I can participate in my sport. This is clearly a lot, and I will have minimal time to acclimatize before I have to start performing. Thinking about how to manage this has me thinking about how climate change will impact athletes. Schneider and Mücke (2024) … Continue reading
With misinformation running rampant, it becomes ever more important for people to identify strategies to address it. The standard response is to want to correct the misinformation. However, as we’ve seen, this often doesn’t have the impact we want. A more recent recommendation is to bypass the misinformation. When you bypass misinformation you “introduce different, … Continue reading
I get comments about safety all the time when I bike commute: “I wouldn’t risk it, it’s so dangerous.” The thing is that I’m healthier when I’m biking in, so how do the health benefits of the biking balance with the higher risk of traffic accidents? Friel and colleagues (2024) looked at long term health … Continue reading
I’ve been trying to change my language away from car-centric metaphors for a while. I try not to say, “Take the road less travelled,” for example, and switch it to “path.” When I talk about putting an idea aside to think about or discuss later I’ve started saying, “we’ll put that in the bike rack … Continue reading
I’m a paddler. I paddle multiple different sports — canoeing, kayaking, and dragon boating. I’m competitive in dragon boating but recreational in the other two. From my own experience, recreational paddlers seem to think more about nature and environmental impact. Even for myself, I know that I justify a higher environmental impact in my dragon … Continue reading
I am currently taking a course through Coursera from Western University in Canada. The course is Connecting for Climate Change. It uses a two-eyed seeing approach to view climate change through Western and Indigenous science lenses. I think if you are new to this idea and want to learn more about both climate change and … Continue reading
I know that climate change, particularly the lack of action on climate change, affects my mental health. Therefore, an article about the impact of climate change on the mental health of vulnerable populations caught my eye. The research, done by Fahrudin and colleagues (2024), conducted a review of published research between 2000 and 2023. I’m … Continue reading