COVID-19 has put health front and center for many of us, but the reality is that our global warming pollution is a bigger threat to our health, even though we don’t often think about it. According to the 4th National Climate Assessment, the health and well-being of Americans, and people across the globe, are already affected by climate change, with the adverse health consequences projected to worsen with additional global warming. The climate crisis affects your health by altering exposures to heatwaves, floods, droughts, and other extreme events; vector-, food- and waterborne infectious diseases; changes in the quality and safety of air, food, and water; and stresses to mental health and well-being.
For this reason, CLEO decided to theme our 10th annual symposium around climate & health. With world-renown keynotes and expert panelists, we hope this symposium gave you the opportunity to listen to the experts on what is happening, how it’s impacting our health, and what we can do to protect ourselves and mitigate the climate crisis. This virtual symposium was handled differently, inviting Jacee Gossett from The Class to help with zoom fatigue, providing interactive opportunities to ensure active learning, and with a call to action for a climate emergency declaration to get our municipalities to act on climate.