Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health hosted a media briefing to examine the growing health consequences of extreme weather and climate change such as heat-related kidney disease among outdoor workers, worsening asthma from wildfire smoke, cardiovascular disease from rising temperatures and poor air quality, and long-term mental health impacts from natural disasters.
Extreme weather events — hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and heat waves — are becoming more frequent, severe, and costly. In 2024 alone, the U.S. experienced 27 weather and climate disasters exceeding $1 billion each, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The health impacts extend far beyond the immediate emergency response: including disruptions in health care access, food and water safety concerns, and long-term community displacement.
Sonia Angell, MD, MPH, is a Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of American Health in the Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Megan Weil Latshaw, PhD, MHS, is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Angell and Latshaw are core faculty members in the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, a collaborative program that addresses pressing health issues in the U.S., including food systems, environmental challenges, addiction and overdose, violence, and adolescent health.
Time stamps:
0:00 Introduction
01:50 How extreme weather events impact health
3:50 State preparation for health impacts
7:10 How people can protect themselves
10:00 Impacts of extreme weather in southern U.S. states
13:20 What people and families can do to protect themselves
17:00 How health care providers measure impacts of extreme weather
19:10 How Dhaka in Bangladesh can minimize its heat vulnerability
21:35 Specific health problems extreme weather can cause
23:40 Link between extreme weather and climate change and public health
26:50 Role social inequality in impacts of climate change
Resources:
Sonia Angell
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/4338/sonia-angell
Megan Weil Latshaw
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/1708/megan-weil-latshaw
Bloomberg American Health Initiative
https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/
Sonia Angell, Health and Extreme Weather Events: Reframing Around Resilience
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2837353
Bloomberg American Health Initiative: Climate and Health Report
climateandhealthreport.org
Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2024
ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202413
Study Finds Large Cities Lagging in Extreme-Weather Early Warning Systems, with Public Health Engagement Unevenly Distributed
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/study-finds-large-cities-lagging-in-extreme-weather-early-warning-systems-with-public-health-engagement-unevenly-distributed
Feeling the Extreme Heat
https://magazine.publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/feeling-extreme-heat
The Visible and Unseen Dangers Lurking in Floodwater
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/the-dangers-of-floodwater
CDC: Building Resilience Against Climate Effects Framework
cdc.gov/climate-health/php/brace/index.html
CDC: National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
ephtracking.cdc.gov
https://publichealth.jhu.edu
instagram.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH
facebook.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH
twitter.com/johnshopkinssph
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health hosted a media briefing to examine the growing health consequences of extreme weather and climate change such as heat-related kidney disease among outdoor workers, worsening asthma from wildfire smoke, cardiovascular disease from rising temperatures and poor air quality, and long-term mental health impacts from natural disasters.
Extreme weather events — hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and heat waves — are becoming more frequent, severe, and costly. In 2024 alone, the U.S. experienced 27 weather and climate disasters exceeding $1 billion each, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The health impacts extend far beyond the immediate emergency response: including disruptions in health care access, food and water safety concerns, and long-term community displacement.
Sonia Angell, MD, MPH, is a Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of American Health in the Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Megan Weil Latshaw, PhD, MHS, is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Angell and Latshaw are core faculty members in the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, a collaborative program that addresses pressing health issues in the U.S., including food systems, environmental challenges, addiction and overdose, violence, and adolescent health.
Time stamps:
0:00 Introduction
01:50 How extreme weather events impact health
3:50 State preparation for health impacts
7:10 How people can protect themselves
10:00 Impacts of extreme weather in southern U.S. states
13:20 What people and families can do to protect themselves
17:00 How health care providers measure impacts of extreme weather
19:10 How Dhaka in Bangladesh can minimize its heat vulnerability
21:35 Specific health problems extreme weather can cause
23:40 Link between extreme weather and climate change and public health
26:50 Role social inequality in impacts of climate change
Resources:
Sonia Angell
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/4338/sonia-angell
Megan Weil Latshaw
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/1708/megan-weil-latshaw
Bloomberg American Health Initiative
https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/
Sonia Angell, Health and Extreme Weather Events: Reframing Around Resilience
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2837353
Bloomberg American Health Initiative: Climate and Health Report
climateandhealthreport.org
Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2024
ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202413
Study Finds Large Cities Lagging in Extreme-Weather Early Warning Systems, with Public Health Engagement Unevenly Distributed
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/study-finds-large-cities-lagging-in-extreme-weather-early-warning-systems-with-public-health-engagement-unevenly-distributed
Feeling the Extreme Heat
https://magazine.publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/feeling-extreme-heat
The Visible and Unseen Dangers Lurking in Floodwater
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/the-dangers-of-floodwater
CDC: Building Resilience Against Climate Effects Framework
cdc.gov/climate-health/php/brace/index.html
CDC: National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
ephtracking.cdc.gov
https://publichealth.jhu.edu
instagram.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH
facebook.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH
twitter.com/johnshopkinssph
