We’ve all probably heard about how climate change is affecting the ice sheets and polar bears, but what about human health? More severe and numerous floods, droughts, and heat waves impact a wide range of health outcomes, and shifting biomes may spread diseases to new places. How do scientists understand which portions of health effects are caused by climate change, and how can health organizations be prepared? To find out, we talked with Kristie Ebi, who founded the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) at the University of Washington. In addition to the effects of climate change, Kris told us about how many of the mitigations for climate change—e.g. switching from coal to renewable power sources, creating more environmentally-friendly transportation systems, and reducing meat in our diets—will coincidentally improve public health. She also introduced us to the rap stylings of Baba Brinkman, whose song “Climate Hero” summarizes several of the points Kris made in our episode.

This episode was produced by Katrina Jackson and mixed by Collin Warren. Artwork by Jace Steiner. Find a companion to this episode from our friends over at Carry the Two.

“Climate Hero” and other science raps by Baba Brinkman will be released via Spotify and other streaming services soon on a forthcoming science rap album, which can be previewed here: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/rapsode.