Irène Mathieu , MD : We first met in front of a green screen at the University of Virginia , where you were creating videos of clinicians discussing the health impacts of air pollution .
Neelu Tummala , MD : That was such a fun day ! I remember feeling so excited to meet you . I had read your poetry , and now I was getting to collaborate with you .
IM : Since then , I ’ ve joined you as a member of the steering committee of VCCA . How – and why – did you first get involved with climate justice work ?
NT : I first got involved with climate justice work about five years ago . I remember reading studies showing how Black children are more likely to live in areas with higher levels of air pollution , which worsens asthma symptoms . And that communities of color are more likely to be exposed to higher levels of smog and more heat extremes in urban neighborhoods because they often live in areas that are near highways , have less green space and more concrete . The decades of work environmental justice communities have been doing to fight for basic rights of clean air and a healthy environment is what has inspired me to join these efforts .
It seems incredible now to think back to a time when I was not very familiar with all the health impacts of climate injustice . Once you learn about the environmental hazards people are faced with daily , you cannot unlearn these harrowing truths . And once you learn about them , how can you not get involved with climate justice work ?
IM : It ’ s one thing to intellectually understand how climate change affects the most vulnerable ; it ’ s another thing entirely to experience on a personal level . You ’ re right that the truths of the climate crisis cannot be unlearned , and I ’ ve felt that both intellectually and viscerally . I spent the last stages of my pregnancy in the beginning of another uncharacteristically hot Virginia summer . The day before I was due , it was 97 degrees and our air conditioner cut out . I tossed and turned on the couch under our ceiling fan as my daughter pummeled my insides , fretting about how this heat exposure might affect our delicate physiology . Thankfully we were able to get the unit fixed the next day , and we suffered no untoward health effects . But I couldn ’ t help but ruminate on the pregnant folks who don ’ t have air conditioning at all , and maybe not even a ceiling fan .
NT : I have so many patients who have been through similar situations . I had a patient who had to go to a train station and walk around because her home was too hot for her grandchild to sleep in during a warm summer night . As the IPCC reports highlight , climate weather extremes are becoming more common in a warming world .