Symposium Shines Light on Climate Change’s Impact on Health, What Maryland Can Do to Help
Each year, more than 700 people die from extreme heat in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Climate change is making these types of death more common.
A 2025 study from the Yale School of Public Health highlighted those increases, finding that deaths linked to heat exposure surged more than 50 percent over the past two decades.
And Baltimore is no exception.
On Aug. 2, 2024, Baltimore Department of Public Works employee Ronald Silver II died of hyperthermia after overheating while working a city trash route. His death was investigated by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and his employer was found to be at fault.
“He was only 36 years old. He was a father of three, and he had very classic symptoms of heat illness leading up to the heatstroke. There was warning that could have been acted on,” Marianne D. Cloeren, MD, MPH, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), said last month at the “Climate, Health, and Policy in Maryland: The State Steps Up” symposium.
The event at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) brought together leaders from across Maryland — including those in higher education, medicine, and community organizations — for conversations about the impact of climate change on health and what the state is doing to address the issue.
Improving health outcomes caused by environmental changes will take a collaborative approach, something UMB is systemically building into its campus values — through interdisciplinary curricula, advocacy, and hands-on work within the community.
Addressing Climate Change Through Collaboration
Faculty from the University of Maryland Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Law, along with the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) Marine-Estuarine Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, have collaborated over the past three years to educate students and build community partnerships that tackle the problems of a changing climate.
In October, the group of faculty hosted the all-day symposium with panel discussions on topics including health, heat, and climate standards; federal climate science and law; and Maryland climate law and advocacy.
“I was inspired by all our speakers to continue this important work,” said Karin G. Russ, JD, MS, RN, assistant professor and interim director of legal affairs at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON).
Both Russ — who serves on the Legislative Committee of the Maryland Nurses Association, the UMSON Climate Change Committee, and the Universities at Shady Grove Green Committee — and Robyn Gilden, PhD, RN, associate professor at UMSON, have been instrumental in integrating climate-focused courses and programs into UMB curricula.
Russ was involved in the creation of UMB’s interdisciplinary course Climate Change, Health, and Society, and Gilden is the director of UMSON’s 12-credit graduate Environmental Health Certificate for professional nurses. They both were instrumental in planning the symposium.
“There was amazing collaboration across campuses and also among academia, government, and community, all seeking solutions to how climate change is affecting the health and well-being of Marylanders,” Gilden said. “I hope that all participants and attendees walked away with practical actions for themselves and collectively in their respective roles.”
A Community Effort
Presenters Brooke E. Lierman, JD, Maryland comptroller, and Patrick O’Shea, PhD, MS, vice president for research for UMB and UMCP, looked at climate change through unique lenses — Lierman from the perspective of the economic impact that the changing climate has on Maryland and O’Shea highlighting the need for innovation and cross-industry partnership to tackle the pervasive problems of climate change.
Lierman specifically highlighted “State Spending Series: Climate Change Costs,” a report that the comptroller’s office issued in April. The report looks at the cost of both action and inaction when it comes to climate change and its impact on Maryland.
“Climate change is not the first thing that you think of when you think of our state comptroller. But actually, I would argue that climate change and its effect on our revenues is profound and profoundly important,” Lierman said.
“Climate change doesn't just make people sick. It strains the health care system that people rely on, health care workers themselves are suffering, and the people we rely on to care for us are then facing burnout, heat stress, and trauma responding to disaster after disaster,” she added.
The symposium also included presentations from students about their UMB Provost’s Climate Health and Resilience summer internship projects.
The four students from multiple disciplines shared information about projects they spent the summer working on, which focused on:
- The intersection of climate change and ophthalmology
- Using group therapy processes to manage and organize for extreme climate events
- Health damages from municipal and medical waste incineration in Baltimore
- a climate-adaptive approach to combat expanding vector-borne disease transmission
“By coming together, we better serve our communities and our shared future. We all know no part of the country or the world is spared. For Maryland, whether you live out in Cumberland or Hereford or Southern Maryland, Baltimore City or the Eastern Shore, we will be affected,” Snehal T. Patel, MD, MHS, clinical associate professor at UMSOM, said during the symposium, adding, “It is vital that Maryland leads the way in a more sustainable and prosperous future, and I think we’re going to see some glimpses of that throughout the day.”
