Climate Change
No human society has ever existed in the current atmospheric conditions… It is becoming clear that the field(s) of behavioral science, and behavioral medicine in particular, must transform rapidly and radically to remain relevant, because unspoken assumptions about climate stability (which held in the Holocene) about the relative importance of various behaviors and key determinants of human health, are already being violated in the Anthropocene.
We would like to thank the many frontline communities, organizations, and individuals whose work has been essential in advancing our ability to address the most important public health and equity concerns of our time.
On this page, you will find the Request for Information (RFI) from the National Institutes of Health that will begin efforts for the NIH to support research that is focused on climate change and health and relevant publications, including an upcoming Special Issue in Translational Behavioral Medicine. Further, this page will offer a central location for information regarding the work of some of the leading scientific societies like, American Psychological Association’s Climate Change Task Force, Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Presidential Working Group on Climate Change, Behavior Change & Health, and American Psychosomatic Society’s Climate Change, Sustainability, & Health Special Interest Group that are bringing climate and behavioral scientists together to address these accelerating risks. In 2021, the Academy for Behavioral Medicine Research and the Society of Behavioral Medicine both focused their annual conferences around climate change and promoted more opportunities for scientists to engage in this work in a meaningful way. There will only be more chances to learn about and join initiatives dedicated to climate change. We plan for this new addition of our website to offer the scientific community with a live and interactive digital space where users can learn about these emerging opportunities, provide feedback, engage with the Resource and Coordinating Center to further address and inform climate change and health to our community.
If you have any questions or comments for us, please contact us at: info@scienceofbehaviorchange.org. For up-to-date information about SOBC , please follow us on Twitter (@SOBC_RCC)!
In the United States, behavioral scientists are gradually responding to the imperative need to address the climate change crisis and the detrimental effects it will have on human health and well-being. The leaders of the NIH Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) program are no exception. For the past 10 years, SOBC has supported scientists to engage in a rigorous and reproducible experimental medicine approach for early-phased, evidence-based interventions and further understand and identify the underlying mechanisms of behavior change. The primary mission of SOBC is to disseminate this approach and provide resources for behavioral scientists at every level to be applied to their research in an open and accessible manner. We continue to uphold this mission by providing the scientific community with the information and opportunities available that surround climate change. As you read this, the SOBC Resource and Coordinating Center is working to create a page solely dedicated to climate change resources, events, topics, and ways to get involved.
We would like to thank the many frontline communities, organizations, and individuals whose work has been essential in advancing our ability to address the most important public health and equity concerns of our time.
Basics: Climate Change, Environment, & Health
Research on Climate & Health:
- NIEHS Climate Change & Human Health Literature Portal
- NEJM Climate Crisis & Health Articles & Resources
- The Lancet Countdown on Health & Climate Change
- American Psychologist special edition on climate change & psychology
- NIEHS global environmental health chat podcast
- Climate Resources at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
- Climate Resources for Health Education
Climate Change & Psychology/Mental Health
Networking & Coalition Building
- Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health (see individual states for initiatives in your area)
- American Psychological Association Climate Change Task Force
- American Psychosomatic Society Climate Change, Sustainability, & Health Special Interest Group
- University of California San Francisco Climate Change & Mental Health Task Force
- Climate Psychiatry Alliance
- Climate and Health Alliance – Australia
- Society of Behavioral Medicine Climate Change Presidential Working Group: Lead contact: Michael Diefenbach, PhD
- American Psychological Association Division 34 Climate Change & Mental Health Task Force: Lead contact: Thomas Doherty, PsyD
- Global South Climate Expert Database
