The Heat is On: Health, Society, and Climate Adaptation

A truly hot topic: With rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves, the health impacts of heat are becoming increasingly urgent. Yet temperatures do not need to reach extreme levels to pose serious risks. They can trigger heart attacks and strokes and contribute to a growing burden of heat-related mortality that is likely to intensify with climate change and population aging. The effects are felt not only at the level of public health but also in everyday medical care, where a prescription that is safe in the winter may become dangerous during a hot summer.

How dangerous is heat really, even when temperatures do not appear extreme? How do rising temperatures affect healthcare systems, patients, and vulnerable populations? What forms of prevention, patient education, and community support are needed to reduce heat-related health risks? And how can societies adapt to the growing public health challenges posed by a warming world?

Join us for a discussion with experts from both sides of the Atlantic—Beate Müller, Director of the Institute of General Practice and Professor for General Practice (with a focus on planetary health in primary care), University Hospital Cologne and Humboldtian Kai Chen, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Faculty Director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health.

The conversation will address both the immediate health risks posed by heat and the broader societal challenge of strengthening resilience in a changing climate.

The Transatlantic Tandem Talks were established on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the North America office of the University of Cologne in New York in the year 2021 in cooperation with its partners the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York, the German Embassy in Washington D.C., Deutsches Haus at NYU, DAAD New York, the German Research Foundation (DFG) North America, the German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New York, 1014 Space for Ideas, the Goethe Institute New York, AmerikaHaus NRW, the American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the American Council on Germany (ACG).