Climate Change is a Public Health Crisis with Dr. Rose Jones (Part 1)

Are you wondering how to cope with the heat? Does it feel like climate-related health protection policy is moving at an ironically glacial pace? Join our hosts, Robert and Carrie for the latest climate news updates, and delve into the heart of the climate-fueled public health crisis with medical anthropologist, Dr. Rose Jones, during the first of a two-part episode.

An interview with Dr. Rose Jones, medical anthropologist and founder of Rapid Anthropology, uncovers the deeply troubling intricacies of climate health inequities, policy lags, and general crises:

• What in the climate change is medical anthropology? Learn how anthropology can be applied to examine issues in public health, and how this understanding can be applied to climate-related health crises. (15:15)

• What do the LA Strikes of 2023, Texas prisons, and the border crisis have in common? Dr. Jones draws a connection between the LA writers’ strikes that shut Hollywood down to the health crises along the Texas border and in Texas prisons. (19:40)

• Where is the balance between the health benefits of tree canopies and water conservation? Dig into the complexities of the climate crisis in relation to human needs and resource conservation. (24:45)

• How are we drawing connections between climate and public health? Between coding, tracking, education, and training, learn how the dots are connected or missed entirely. (30:41)

Then, it’s the good news! Join Robert and Carrie for some of the uplifting climate news, and a special appearance from our producer:

• Is it illegal to provide voters water when standing in line to cast their vote? (35:00)

• Is Texas in the top ten most polluted beaches in the nation? Learn about how the Blue Water Task Force is monitoring bacteria along the Texas Coast. (38:58)

• A new grant secured by House Representative Greg Casar was awarded to the Meadows Center to support water quality research on the Texas Coast (41:35)

• Solar energy is getting exponentially more powerful. Discover the innovations and how they could affect power use in the future. (43:26)

Episode Links and Resources:

• Heat.gov

• Texas Department of Health and Human Services Hot Weather Precautions

• Locate Cooling Centers and Seasonal Shelters in Texas

• Climate Change and Early Childhood: A Science-Based Resource for Storytellers (Frameworks Institute)

• Climate change made heat wave even warmer and 35 times more likely, study finds (Ponca City Now)

• Cow poop might make cleaner hydrogen gas a reality (Popular Science)

• ⁠Is it illegal to hand out water or food outside your polling place? (KXAN)

• VERIFY: No, it isn't illegal to give voters food or water in Texas (WFAA)

• EXPLAINER: Yes, the Georgia election law featured in Curb Your Enthusiasm is real (Atlanta Civic Circle)

• A Deep Dive Into Line-Warming Bans as Federal Court Overturns New York’s Law (Democracy Docket)

• Is Line Warming Legal? (American Bar Association)

• Polling places for urban voters of color would be cut under Texas Senate's version of voting bill being negotiated with House (Texas Tribune)

• Beat the Heat: Top 10 Ways to Stay Hydrated During the Summer (Access Health)

Related Books

• The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet (2023). Jeff Goodell. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

• Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (2015). Eric Klinenberg. The University of Chicago Press, 2nd edition.

• Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action (2024). Dana Fisher. Columbia University Press.

Theme song:

Syzygy by Robert E. Mace

We would like to thank pixabay.com for providing sounds effects.

For more information about the Meadows Center, visit ⁠meadowscenter.txst.edu⁠.