"Pollution and climate shifts make the regular stressors more extreme and add new stressors," Jamie DeWitt, study co-author and Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research at Oregon State University, told CG.
Last week, CG heard from reproductive rights experts about how the latest legal threats to the provision of mifepristone via telehealth could constitute, among other things, a climate issue, particularly for those whose access to in-person abortion care can be disrupted by extreme weather.
Now, after first intervening to temporarily stay a decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that would have required in-person care for the abortion medication, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 14 to allow telemedicine, mail delivery, and pharmacy dispensing of mifepristone to continue for now. Read more…
Last month, CG covered research from YLabs and the Max Planck Institute exploring how temperature and precipitation anomalies may affect contraceptive use, preferences, and autonomy worldwide.
Just a week later, researchers from the World Bank, the Policy Studies Institute, and Mekele University published a paper that "examines the effects of drought shocks on unintended pregnancies across 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa." Among the observations were drought-related obstacles to modern contraceptive access.
CG has been following the impacts of an ongoing energy crisis and functional oil blockade imposed by the U.S. on Cuba, where reports of collapsing health infrastructure and transportation systems have impacted maternal care and more. At a press conference on May 13, Vicente de la O Levy, the island nation's Minister of Energy and Mines, said, "We have absolutely no fuel. We have absolutely no diesel."
The remarks come after Russia's delivery of 100,000 tons of oil in April — "permitted by the Trump administration," according to the New York Times — was used up, the minister said. De la O Levy also underscored the importance of solar energy infrastructure to the energy-strapped country but said it has not been enough to compensate for fuel shortfalls.
The effects of climate change and toxic chemicals are likely weaving together — not acting alone — to impact fecundity and fertility across species, according to a scientific review of 177 studies published in npj Emerging Contaminants last month.
CG heard from Jamie DeWitt, co-author and Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research at Oregon State University, about the details of the research, which looked at reproductive harms among not only humans but also invertebrates, fish, birds, reptiles, marine mammals, and more. Read more…
Aspirin may have an unexpected benefit for pregnant people exposed to humid heat, according to a new study involving more than half a dozen countries across three continents.
Previous research has established that exposure to extreme heat and humidity may be among the environmental factors that can contribute to preterm and early-term birth. However, taking low doses of aspirin early in pregnancy "may mitigate the effects of heat exposure on preterm birth," according to a study published earlier this month in JAMA Network Open by researchers from more than half a dozen countries. Read more…
The world's toughest challenges rarely fit into tidy boxes, one at a time. Now, a group of development professionals tackling climate change, humanitarian crises, and sexual and reproductive health and rights — or SRHR — have launched an online community to bring those big challenges and even bigger solutions together.
The SRHR, Humanitarian Crises, and Climate Action Community of Practice is an open forum available as a LinkedIn group where members can start important conversations, share information and resources, and surface emerging challenges and innovations. Read more…
"Can a tampon be designed to be better for menstruators and the planet at the same time?" That's the question Melanie Schichan told CG her team asked themselves while developing the Kelpon, a tampon made from seaweed.
Schichan co-founded the German company Vyld with marine guide Ines Schiller to bring the Kelpon to market. The pair launched the product in an effort to address their frustration with the limited range of already-available sustainable period products — some greenwashed while still containing plastic — and with more typical tampons, which use land- and resource-intensive materials like cotton and viscose. Read more…
This digest was curated and reported by Gracie Leavitt and edited by Kirsten Krueger.
One goal at Climate, Gendered is to bring a spotlight to the reality that proliferating pollution, increasing temperatures, rising seas, extreme weather, habitat loss, and more can uniquely and disproportionately impact girls, women, trans communities, and nonbinary people — especially those from communities of color, Indigenous people, disabled people, immigrants and displaced people, people experiencing poverty, and residents of low- and middle-income countries. We're also interested in the climate crises and concerns that can disproportionately affect men and boys.
This work cannot be done alone or in silos. We appreciate your feedback and observations. And please feel encouraged to share one way you noticed this week that climate and gender connect — and share CG with a friend.
"While every family is different, mothers are disproportionately the default parent, meaning climate disruptions can add to the mental load, logistical challenges, and economic pressures many women already face," Laura Schifter, a Senior Fellow at the D.C.-based Aspen Institute, told CG.
"Incineration inevitably has an impact on the environment," Selma Benkhelifa of Progress Lawyers Network told CG about the U.S. government's previous plan to burn a cache of contraceptives instead of distributing them. "But the worst thing is depriving millions of women of access to contraception."
"This research project would not have happened had we not had buy-in and trust from the farmers we worked with," Emily Selland told CG about an effort in Senegal that showed integration of native fish into watery rice fields might curb schistosomiasis risks, which may be affected by climate shifts.
"Everywhere is blacked out," photographer Taiwo Aina-Adeokun told CG about the smoky, sooty conditions she observed in kitchen settings — spaces to which her identity as a female photojournalist helped gain her access, she said. "At the fish smoking area, her eyes were always watery."
