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Environment

Pollution kills nine million people each year and sickens many more, mostly in poorer nations. The global health effects of climate change are not well quantified today and are likely to increase in the future, with lower-income countries again bearing the brunt of greater food insecurity, increased rates of chronic respiratory illnesses, and shifts in vector-borne diseases. This section explores the global health nexus between climate change and pollution and the possibilities for a more coherent policy approach to these issues.

Environment

$5.7

Health costs from ambient air pollution, trillions

Health costs from ambient air pollution, trillions Health costs from ambient air pollution, trillions

9M

Premature deaths caused by pollution, in 2015

Premature deaths caused by pollution, in 2015 Premature deaths caused by pollution, in 2015

8

Of the hottest years on record were in last decade

Of the hottest years on record were in last decade Of the hottest years on record were in last decade

118.4

Temperature (°F) in New Delhi amid 2019 heat wave

Temperature (°F) in New Delhi amid 2019 heat wave Temperature (°F) in New Delhi amid 2019 heat wave

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Environment
Residents walk along a house on a flooded street heading to a shelter ahead of the expected landfall of the "super cyclone" Amphan, in the Dacope of Khulna district, Bangladesh, on May 20, 2020. Photo shows two people walking and hanging on to a building as they navigate the flooded streets. AFP/Munir uz Zaman via Getty Images

Family Affair: Coronavirus and the Climate Crisis
by Gaurab Basu, Samir Chaudhuri - June 9, 2020

In the Bay of Bengal, where Cyclone Amphan collided with COVID-19, a glimpse of why we need environmental sustainability

Environment
A Samoan beach before the coronavirus crisis—pictured on June 2, 2017 in Saleapaga, Samoa after New Zealand Prime Minister announced a $5.15 million aid package to help boost Samoa's tourism industry. The picture shows a tropical beach in Somoa with gorgeous palm trees and grass huts. GETTY Images/Phil Walter

Coronavirus in Samoa

by Nicola Hawley

Serendipitous twist of a tragic 2019 measles outbreak may have left small island nation unusually prepared for COVID-19

Environment
Parched land is pictured around the Lake Wegnia, in Sahel region of Koulikoro, Mali on November 22, 2019. Picture Shows a lonely tree, small and scrubby with many of its branches dead. It’s in a dry gully with a few other green scrubby bushes scattered in the frame—but mostly nothing but dry yellow dirt and sand everywhere the eye can see off into the distance. REUTERS/Arouna Sissoko

Weathering the Sahel

by Natalie M. Cormier

The overuse of land packs a punch that promises to get worse over time

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U.S. school systems are stuck between two bad choices. A classroom chair rests between two dismantled water fountains at Edmondson Westside High School in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 28, 2020. The photo shows a red chair in a beige-colorored hallway where two porticos feature white porcelain basins now dry for the pandemic. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Environment

The Kids Are (Not) Alright

by Kevin O’Rourke, Katherine Leach-Kemon, Theo Vos

Analyzing the evidence against—and in support of—reopening schools during COVID-19

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

Residents walk along a house on a flooded street heading to a shelter ahead of the expected landfall of the "super cyclone" Amphan, in the Dacope of Khulna district, Bangladesh, on May 20, 2020. Photo shows two people walking and hanging on to a building as they navigate the flooded streets. AFP/Munir uz Zaman via Getty Images
Environment

Family Affair: Coronavirus and the Climate Crisis

by Gaurab Basu, Samir Chaudhuri

In the Bay of Bengal, where Cyclone Amphan collided with COVID-19, a glimpse of why we need environmental sustainability