nurses climate change

Op-ed: In a warming world, nurses heal people and the planet

Nurses have the experience, motivation and public support to make an important contribution in tackling the climate crises.

During the Covid pandemic, the world cheered as we nurses stepped up. Everyone knows we are essential workers, but our essential role in coping with the climate crisis is much less cheered on, despite our ongoing efforts to be part of the solution.


According to The Lancet, climate change is the greatest global health threat of the 21st century. As temperatures soar, so do cases of heat-related illness and death, cardiac and respiratory disease, and infections like dengue and valley fever. There are 29 million of us nurses worldwide, with deep ties to the communities we serve. We are right there on the front lines – in clinics and hospitals, nursing homes and schools, seeing the health impacts of climate change firsthand.

Because of this, we have earned the public’s respect: in the U.S., we have been voted the most trusted health-care professionals for 22 years running. In a world awash with misinformation about healthand climate change, nurses are well-positioned to provide reliable, evidence-based information on both.

Many are rising to that challenge. In Detroit, for example, Mia McPherson, RN worked with the East Side Community Network to create a guidebook on extreme heat. The guidebook translates medical jargon into plain language, educating the community members about the deadliest climate impact. Others are at the forefront of research and clinical practice on climate health impacts. Roxana Chicas, Ph.D., RN, used real-time biomonitoring equipment to conduct a groundbreaking study of heat-related illness among farmworkers in Florida. Now Chicas is working to develop evidence-based methods to protect workers from dangerous increases in core-body temperature.

We’re also organizing. My organization, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), has supported and organized nurses advocating for action to protect health against climate threats, like pushing for strong federal regulations that protect outdoor workers from extreme heat, reduce emissions from the power sector and move the United States toward a zero emission transportation sector. Others, like the American Nurses Association, have released powerful statements on climate change.

Other nurses are working to make health care itself more climate-friendly, as the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions make up 8.5% of U.S. carbon emissions. Globally, if healthcare were its own country, it would be the fifth-largest emitter on the planet. Nurses like Sara Wohlford, RN, MPH, are leading sustainability programs within their health systems. When Wohlford began working as an emergency-room nurse at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, in Roanoke, Virginia, she was shocked by the routine waste of resources. So Wohlford launched a sustainability effort that has cut the hospital’s medical supply and food waste by tens of thousands of pounds per year.

"In a world awash with misinformation about healthand climate change, nurses are well-positioned to provide reliable, evidence-based information on both."

Despite these promising initiatives, the power of nurses remains largely untapped.

By supporting efforts to integrate climate change into nursing education, like the Nurses Climate Challenge School of Nursing Commitment or the ANHE’s Fellowship program, which provides nurses with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully collaborate with communities most impacted by climate change, funders can help nurses leverage their power. Other programs, like the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s (FNF) Green Healthcare Leadership Programme, help nurses carve out time to participate in sustainability initiatives within their healthcare institutions.

Finally, funders can foster coordination among international nursing organizations, and support nurses’ attendance at international climate change meetings. These meetings provide unique opportunities for nurses to forge new relationships with governmental agencies and advocacy organizations who are unaware of the reach of nurses on this issue. It is especially important to include nurses from the global south, who are confronting the most extreme health impacts from climate change.

Last year was by far the hottest since humans have been keeping records. As we enter what UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls “the era of global boiling,” addressing the climate crisis and its parallel health crisis could not be more urgent. It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment, and nurses have the experience, motivation, and public support to make an important contribution. With more philanthropic support, nurses can help meet this critical moment.

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.
Credit: Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Flickr

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro ran on a promise to regulate Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry more stringently. Two years into his term, the Environmental Health Project, a public health advocacy nonprofit focused on fracking, has published a report that assesses the Shapiro administration’s progress.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
An NOAA truck with a weather satellite on the back.

Trump’s government cuts disrupt NOAA forecasts and data collection

President Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce have triggered firings, operational cuts, and email security problems at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Oliver Milman reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Courtroom with a jury box and judge's bench.
Credit: Pixabay

Trump EPA’s fraud claims stall in court as green bank funding freeze drags on

Federal court documents reveal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump has yet to produce evidence of fraud in a $20 billion climate grant program it moved to freeze earlier this year.

Lisa Friedman and Claire Brown report for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Wind turbines in grass field during golden hour.

Texas lawmakers move to restrict growth of wind and solar power

Texas and other Republican-led states are advancing legislation that could slow or block new renewable energy projects, as political momentum shifts back toward fossil fuels.

David Montgomery reports for Stateline.

Keep reading...Show less
Person wearing green jacket with the word Greenpeace on the back.

Greenpeace verdict over pipeline protest defamation could spell problems for environmental activism and speech

A North Dakota jury found Greenpeace defamed pipeline builder Energy Transfer during protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, awarding $250 million in defamation damages. What does it mean for environmental activism and free speech?

Karen Zraick reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
A petrochemical plant on the water at nighttime.

Petrochemical industry struggles with overcapacity, rising costs, and shaky green investments

Executives at a Houston conference warned that global overbuilding, slow economic growth, and policy uncertainty are shaking the foundation of the petrochemical industry as it faces pressure to go greener.

Alexander Tullo reports for Chemical & Engineering News.

Keep reading...Show less
The word plastic spelled out in multicolored letters.

Plastic ban in Bangladesh struggles as eco-friendly bags face high costs

Government raids in Dhaka reveal the ongoing failure of Bangladesh’s plastic bag ban, as consumers and businesses continue to rely on cheap, single-use polythene bags.

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla reports for Mongabay.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.