Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment
We seek climate solutions that can provide for a healthier and more just world today and a livable future for our children.
665 Huntington Avenue
Building 1, Room 1312
Boston, MA 02115
Research
We tackle issues that are essential for building healthy, just, and sustainable communities. Through rigorous research, we evaluate and advance solutions that will enable the healthiest, most equitable path forward, especially for communities that are most vulnerable to climate change.
Our work addresses climate impacts at every level: individuals; health care systems; communities and cities; and national and global policy.
Individuals
Climate change poses a serious threat to everyone’s health, especially to children, older adults, people with chronic medical conditions, and people living in under-resourced communities.
We’re working to find solutions that keep people healthy and provide education and resources about how climate impacts health and actions everyone can take to stay safe.
We’re testing whether air purifiers can help by reducing harmful particles in the air, which could offer a non-drug way to improve symptoms and lung health.
Health care systems
As climate change makes extreme weather like wildfires and heat waves more frequent and intense, health care systems need to be ready for emerging threats to patients’ health. We work with hospitals, frontline clinics, and health care providers to identify how fossil fuel pollution and climate change impact patient health and care delivery. Together, we develop and evaluate strategies to protect patients and ensure health systems are resilient to climate challenges.
Climate shocks including heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding are disrupting health care delivery and harming patients. We work with frontline health clinics that serve highly impacted communities to develop and deploy resources that can safeguard their patients’ health.
We develop and evaluate curricula that train health professionals to identify and address the health impacts of climate change in their patients.
Communities and cities
Communities and cities are dynamic spaces where innovative climate solutions can be developed, tested, and scaled. We collaborate with residents, local leaders, and organizations in the U.S. and around the world to create resilient and equitable neighborhoods. By working together, we find the most effective strategies to help communities withstand climate impacts and keep their neighbors safe.
We are evaluating tailored interventions to address heat stress in vulnerable populations in Boston, South Africa, and Madagascar.
We’re working with community stakeholders to understand how climate hazards like heat, flooding, pollution, and chemical exposures impact the health of communities in the Mystic River Watershed and develop tools to help decision makers protect those most at risk.
The La Fire Health Study is a 10-year project looking at which pollutants are in the air, where they are present, and how they affect people’s lungs, brains, hearts, and overall health.
National and global policy
Our research helps policymakers understand the health impacts of fossil fuel pollution and develop evidence-based, equitable climate policies that prioritize public health. By studying how climate change affects population health and conducting benefit-cost analyses of interventions, we shape policy and keep health central to climate solutions.
We’re looking at how ecological transformations impact health in Madagascar and Nepal, using national health system data to create research data platforms that will enable adaptation and preparedness efforts in the face of climate change.
CHAIR-India links environmental data to health datasets to study the impact of air pollution and temperature on health in rural and urban areas across India.
Check out our latest work
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Where to install renewable energy to get the greatest climate and health benefits in the U.S.
Discover how building renewables where they displace coal and are near dense populations offers great benefits.
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Many More People Live Closer To Underground Gas Storage Wells Than Previously Thought
Study reveals 53K people live within a city block of UGS wells in PA, OH, WV, MI, NY, and CA. Discover the potential health and safety risks of living near active gas storage fields.
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How Dangerous are Underground Natural Gas Storage Wells?
Assessing the dangers: 1 in 5 U.S. underground natural gas storage wells vulnerable to catastrophic accidents. Learn about the risks, health concerns, and regulatory insights.
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Costs and Health Co-Benefits for a U.S. Power Plant Carbon Standard
Costs and health co-benefits of power plant carbon standards: Study reveals $33 billion in annual net benefits across regions, emphasizing economic gains and health impacts.
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Health Benefits of Renewable Energy
Learn how generating electricity from low-carbon sources and reducing energy demand cuts fossil fuel emissions, yielding millions in health benefits annually.
Past Projects
Browse a selection of issues we’ve researched to guide decision makers in crafting policies and programs that improve health in climate change and infectious disease, fossil fuels and health, natural gas and gas stoves, clean energy and health, and climate policies and health.
