Mark your calendars for our Annual Friedman Lecture & Awards on April 5, 2024. Our 23rd lecture — Climate Change in an Aging World— will be given by Karl Pillemer, PhD, of Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine.
Environmental challenges are increasing as the world faces the negative consequences of global climate change. However, little attention has been paid to the enormous threat climate change poses to the health and well-being of the rapidly expanding older population. This lecture explores three key issues in the intersection of aging and climate change. First, older adults are especially vulnerable to extreme heat and climate-related disasters, yet planning for their unique needs has been minimal Second, the growth in the aging population is coming to play a larger role in contributing to climate change. Third, older persons constitute a critically important source of solutions to environmental problems. Successful strategies for engaging older adults as key participants in climate change prevention, mitigation, and resilience are presented.