In This Climate?!: Recent Episodes
Global Hands
Did you know that climate change is our GREATEST HEALTH THREAT of the 21st century? Global health is under the weather 🌏😷
Join medical students Emily and Lara as we explore the intersection of climate and health, why it matters to health students and professionals alike, and how we can act. This podcast is a basic, accessible intro, so if you're a climate newbie or otherwise feeling out of the loop, never fear - we are here to help! Come hang with us and our incredible guests to learn more.
Supported (emotionally) by Global Hands UNDS, 2022. Recorded on unceded Gadigal land.
Recorded September 2023, published April 2024. Medical school is hard.
“If a factory is torn down, but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory.” - Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (and also Dr Richard Yin, in this episode!)
Welcome back to the In This Climate?! podcast with Emily and Lara, who in the hiatus have somehow become final year medical students. Unfortunately, the climate crisis remains a crisis. More fortunately, we have two incredible guests joining us in this episode to talk about systems theory, challenging the status quo, and effective climate advocacy in the face of unprecedented change.
Dr Richard Yin is a recently retired general practitioner from Perth, and a long-term member of Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), as well as previous WA chair, and is on the current campaigns committee and the DEA Board. He is also the chair of Green Practice Society, a not-for-profit incorporated society that seeks to inspire doctors, medial professionals and their patients and communities to promote health through living and working sustainably.
Dr Katherine Barraclough is a consultant nephrologist from Melbourne, with a particular interest in the intersection between planetary and human health. She is Chair of the Australia New Zealand Society of Nephrology Green Nephrology Special Interest Group and a member of Doctors for the Environment Australia, sitting on both the Victorian State and National Biodiversity Committees. She strongly believes that health professionals need to more than simply care for those who are ill – they also have a central role to play in ensuring that healthy, stable environments exist so that current and future generations can thrive.
Listen in with us to learn more about systems thinking, levers of change, the power of medical student advocacy, and how to approach foundational change (especially the likes of which are required for meaningful climate action to protect health). Warning: optimism ahead!
Mentioned in this episode:
- Thinking In Systems by Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright (Editor)
- Limits to Growth by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows and Jørgen Randers
- Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA)
- AMSA Code Green
Like, maybe? But also, maybe not? Maybe definitely not? We ask Professor Peter Sainsbury for answers.
A now retired public health doctor, Professor Sainsbury holds qualifications in medicine, health planning, medical administration and public health and has a PhD in sociology. He has a career-long interest in social policy, particularly related to health equity and the social determinants of health, healthy built environments and environmental sustainability.
In this episode, we talk about capitalism, humanitarianism, the recent COP27 and, you know, the fate of humanity, all through the lens of climate change. If you're interested (read: anything from oblivious to frustrated to desperate) in why we have the tools to solve climate change and yet - astoundingly - we repeatedly refuse to, this is the episode for you.
Mentioned in the episode:
- COP27
- Climate and Health Alliance - Prof Sainsbury is a past president
- Public Health Association Australia - Prof Sainsbury is a past president
- Doctors for the Environment Australia
- Market Forces - your money as a force for good
- “There’s no such thing as a win-win revolution." - Ian Angus, a Canadian ecosocialist activist
- Recommended reading from Prof Sainsbury: Varoufakis details vision for ending ‘Global Empire of Capital’ to avert catastrophe
See you in the revolution 🔥
P.S. Prof Sainsbury writes an environmental column in Pearls & Irritations every Sunday, it's well worth the read!
Join us in this episode with the incredible Professor Paul Torzillo, a senior respiratory physician and intensive care physician who has done groundbreaking work* in Aboriginal health throughout his career (this is an understatement). This episode is about Aboriginal housing and health, including health hardware and the Housing for Health project, and the impacts of climate change on this already critical issue. We also touch on air pollution, COVID-19, and what safe housing might look like into the future. Who does the climate crisis really affect?
There are no punches pulled today; listen and learn more about how climate, health, and equity are inextricably linked.
- From HealthInfoNet: Professor Torzillo recently received the RPA Foundation Medal for his contributions in Aboriginal health and, along with his team, was also honoured with the World Habitat Award in 2011 for their work in Housing and Health in Aboriginal Communities which led to a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing guide. Alongside these awards, Professor Torzillo was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005 for his contributions to medicine and improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Mentioned in the episode:
- Professor Tess Lea's work, including Housing for Health
- Healthabitat (Professor Torzillo is a founder)
- Health hardware - why we all need it
- Household air pollution and health - WHO
In today's episode we are joined by Dr Lyn Fragar AO, an esteemed public health physician with a formidable career spanning decades in rural health. We discuss Dr Fragar's work in rural areas from Papua New Guinea to Hunter New England, her personal experiences dealing with climate change in rural communities, the impacts of climate change on farming, and how the landscape of health, climate, and sustainability has evolved not only over her career, but under her leadership (humble though she may be about her pioneering contributions).
We also talk about Hunter New England Local Health District's sustainable development program, a monumental initiative to reach net zero by 2030 which Dr Fragar was instrumental in implementing as Chairperson of the Board. Climate change may be terrifying, but we're up for the challenge - Dr Fragar said so, and we believe her.
Mentioned in the episode:
- HNELHD Sustainable Development Program
- Global Green and Healthy Hospitals
- Prof David Pencheon & the NHS Sustainable Development Unit
- Climate Change and Farmer's Mental Health: Risks and Responses (some of Dr Fragar's research)
- Doctors for the Environment Australia
In this episode we are joined by the wonderful Dr Cybele Dey, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and passionate environmental advocate, to discuss climate change and mental health. We cover a lot of ground in this one, from the surprising impacts of heat on mental illness to what's ACTUALLY behind climate anxiety, as well as the upcoming federal election and more sustainable hospitals... and as always, how all of this impacts medical students and doctors.
Mentioned in the episode:
- Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA)
- DEA student chapter
- Psychology for a Safe Climate
- Climate Psychiatry Alliance
- Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC)
- Climate and Health Alliance
- Greener NHS programme
Resources & receipts:
- Climate change psychology and coping with distress
- Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) report on how climate change affects mental health in Australia
- Climate change-related worry, engagement, and mental health - ACAMH podcast
- Royal College UK - Eco Distress
- Dr Kate Charlesworth (DEA) on hospital sustainability in Australia
Welcome to the very first episode of In This Climate?!
Emily and Lara give a breakdown on global heating and what on Earth is going on with our health. What exactly are the health impacts of climate change anyway? Listen for a basic overview of both direct and indirect health impacts, many of which will be explored in depth by experts in upcoming episodes.
Real talk: climate change is also changing health and medicine. If we want to be well-rounded medical students (or other health students, health professionals, or just general health enthusiasts) then we have a responsibility to be aware of these issues both medically and socially. Don't work up a sweat though - we've got you. Come on in.
Mentioned in the episode:
- Tuvalu's COP26 broadcast
Other climate & health resources:
- Doctors for the Environment Australia
- Global Hands UNDS
- AMSA Code Green
Important sources/receipts:
- IPCC report (2021)
- Melbourne epidemic thunderstorm asthma event 2016 - The Lancet
- Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution - Frontiers in Public Health
- The Climate Council
- Murray Valley encephalitis in Western Australia in 2000 - Dept. of Health