Medicine in a Warming World
The Physician's Role in Climate Action
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12929346 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Connor A Tarver (St. George's University, corresponding author), Cheryl C Macpherson (0000-0002-2368-2089, St. George's University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1757-7780 • E-ISSN: 1757-7799 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/wcc.70010 |
| OpenAlex | W4412042059 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 52 |
Should physicians, whose collective practices contribute significantly to climate change, respond to its health hazards as part of their professional responsibilities? Or are healthcare practices, often deemed essential, exempt from reevaluation through an environmentally sustainable lens? If not, how can physicians who provide direct patient care make clinical decisions that balance individual patient benefit with environmental impact, and align with standards of medical ethics? While qualitative insights from physicians and patients are valuable and prevalent in the clinical literature, this paper does not aim to synthesize those perspectives. Instead, it examines the growing, though still limited, body of bioethics literature that argues physicians have an ethical and clinical responsibility to respond to the health hazards of climate change. This responsibility is grounded in the foundational goals of medicine, preventing disease and promoting health, and the longstanding principles of bioethics that inform clinical practice. Proposed approaches to fulfilling this responsibility include green informed consent, prescription stewardship, care involving assisted reproduction, and clinician advocacy on the health impacts of climate change
Action (physics · Biology · Climate change · Climate science · Geography · Global warming · Political science · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Health and Medical Research Impacts · Healthcare cost, quality, practices · Medicine · Ecology
Reason in a Dark Time
The 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
“Green informed consent” in the classroom, clinic, and consultation room
Environmental sustainability and the carbon emissions of pharmaceuticals
Green bioethics, patient autonomy and informed consent in healthcare
Harmonising green informed consent with autonomous clinical decision-making
Environmental sustainability and the paradox of prevention
Environmental migrants, structural injustice, and moral responsibility
Carbon Emissions from Overuse of U.S. Health Care
The Egg Hunt
Patients' Attitudes Towards Integrating Environmental Sustainability Into Healthcare Decision‐Making
Should Health Professionals Speak Up to Reduce the Health Risks of Climate Change
How Should Clinicians Weigh the Benefits and Harms of Discussing Politicized Topics that Influence Their Individual Patients’ Health
The Importance of Physician Climate Advocacy in the Face of Political Denial
How Should We Think About Clinicians’ Individual Antibiotic Stewardship Duties
Healthcare exceptionalism
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |