Natural Disasters

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Poverty
Patients lie on beds inside the compound of Sagaing Hospital following a strong earthquake near its epicenter, in Sagaing, Myanmar, April 2, 2025.

Earthquake Pushes Myanmar's Health System to Verge of Collapse

by Jonathon Foster, Thinn Thinn Hlaing

The natural disaster strains a health-care system that has been under violent attack since the 2021 coup

Environment
A firefighter battles the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake, California, on January 22, 2025.

The Lasting Damage of Wildfires

by Michael Brauer

The health impacts of wildfires are observed years after the initial blazes

Climate change drives deadlier wildfires
Environment

California's Wildfires Demand Action

by Alice C. Hill, Priyanka Mahat

The January 2025 Los Angeles fires reveal the damaging health consequences of climate-charged hazards

A nurse checks the blood pressure of a patient at the San Rafael nursing home.
Environment

Hurricanes, Climate Change, and Cardiovascular Disease

by Ethan Katznelson, Dhruv Kazi

As climate change advances, intense hurricanes disrupt critical services and increase risk of cardiovascular disease

An ambulance arrives outside a hospital following deadly floods, in Derna, Libya, on September 17, 2023.
Environment

Rebuilding Libya’s Health-Care System

by Mary Fitzgerald

Overcoming the legacy of conflict, natural disasters, and political divisions for a healthier future

People wear protective masks as the Roosevelt Island Tram crosses the East River while haze and smoke from the Canadian wildfires shroud the Manhattan skyline in the Queens Borough New York City, U.S., June 7, 2023.People wear protective masks as the Roosevelt Island Tram crosses the East River while haze and smoke from Canadian wildfires shroud the Manhattan skyline, in Queens, New York City, on June 7, 2023.
Environment

Protecting Ourselves From Wildfire Smoke

by Michael Brauer

Smoke is here to stay, so communities need to adapt

an arial view shows people at the beach on the shores of lake Silbersee
Environment

A Turning Point on Climate Change and Health

by Vanessa Kerry

COP28 presents an historic opportunity to transform the response to the effects that climate change has on health.

Two men stand on rubble from a building that collapsed from last month's deadly earthquake in the rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria, on March 12, 2023.
Poverty

Syrians Need Stable Humanitarian Aid

by Houssam al-Nahhas, Kasra Zarei 

Syrians have long suffered from preventable harms and a devastating earthquake compounds those difficulties.

a man raises his hands
Governance

Global Health Through the Haiti Looking Glass

by David P. Fidler

Another crisis in Haiti sharpens the imperative for new thinking among democracies

A man wades through knee-deep water in his home, carrying damaged furniture in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
Environment

Puerto Rico—Still Waiting for Power After Hurricane Fiona

A fragile health system, vulnerable elderly, and food insecurity worry University of Puerto Rico's Carmen Vélez Vega

A woman with long dark hair in a light blue blouse and black mask searches for something in a black tote bag as she walks past a blue sign with orange letters reading "monkeypox vaccination area"
Governance

The Monkeypox Public Health Emergency

Health law expert Lindsay Wiley outlines the legal tools the U.S. government has to respond to monkeypox

UNICEF's Bruno Maes and Haiti Minister of Education Marie Lucie Joseph tour earthquake damage at the College Mazenod in Camp-Perrin, Les Cayes, Haiti, on August 17, 2021.
Poverty

On the Ground in Haiti Days After Disaster

Haiti-based humanitarian Bruno Maes shares scenes from a shaken Caribbean country 

boys pick up scrap metal in the rubble of a destructed building
Poverty

How Haiti's History Has Hindered Its Disaster Readiness

Broken trust, neoliberal interference, and poverty are to blame says a former reporter who survived the 2010 earthquake

A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas, on August 29, 2017. The photo shows a torn U.S. flag blowing against a dark grey sky. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Environment

Hurricanes, Pandemics, Floods, Frail Systems, and Failed Responses

by Hannah Todd, Justin Onwenu

Imagining a post-Harvey, post-Irma, post-Hanna, post-COVID-19 world of pandemics, natural disasters, and U.S. resiliency