Covid-19 and Climate Change Will Remain Inextricably Linked, Thanks to the Parallels (and the Denial)
Covid-19 has been described as climate change in fast motion. Climate activists hoped it would underscore the threat. But for some, it may have done the opposite.
January 1, 2021
In May, as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the nation, normally jammed highways in Los Angeles were nearly empty. The absence of traffic led to steep reductions in carbon emissions, at least for a while. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images
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Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and quality of life, especially for the diverse and low-income communities they’ve already hit hardest.
MicroClimates: Feeling climate-anxious? These Bay Area doctors have a prescription: organizing
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Dr. Amanda Millstein (left) and Dr. Ashley McClure participate in the 2019 Youth Climate Strike march, Sept. 20, 2019 in San Francisco.Courtesy of Climate Health Now
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Treating what ails you and the planet
Both Amanda Millstein and Ashley McClure’s “climate awakening” came from a familiar source in California wildfires. The devastation of the 2018 fire season and the impact on Bay Area air quality had made the climate crisis all the more real for them. And for the two practicing physicians, it connected the dots with what they were seeing in their own patients.