CCH Research Finds Health Impacts from US Climate Disasters are Underestimated
The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has documented 378 billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. since 1980, causing over 16,000 deaths and costing $2.69 trillion. With climate change these disasters have become more frequent and severe with a significant increase observed in recent years. In 2023 alone, NCEI reported including 28 billion-dollar disasters. Recent research from CCH faculty indicates that the actual health impacts of these disasters are far more extensive than official estimates suggest and affect people’s health for weeks to months following the disaster, with many consequences going unrecorded. Read more from CCH Director Greg Wellenius and BU Medicine student Neil Singh Bedi here.