Earth and environmental sciences articles within Nature Reviews Nephrology

Featured

  • Comment |

    People with kidney disease are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters and extreme weather events. As climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of these events, a robust response is needed to improve disaster preparedness and increase the resilience of these patients.

    • Amir Sapkota
    •  & Peter Kotanko

  • Comment |

    Thousands of environmental chemicals are used globally. However, despite clear evidence of their adverse effects on the kidney, substantial knowledge gaps remain. Further studies are needed to better understand the effects of chemical mixtures, windows of physiological susceptibility, vulnerable populations, and the intersection of chemical exposure with health risks associated with climate change and heat stress.

    • Alison P. Sanders
    •  & Nishad Jayasundara

  • Comment |

    Climate change is increasing global temperatures and causing more frequent and severe extreme heat events. The resulting additional disease burden is inequitably distributed. Strategies that reduce inequities in heat exposure and vulnerability to heat-related illness, as well as health protections at multiple levels (from individual to regional), are urgently needed to contain the looming crisis.

    • Jeremy Hess

  • Year in Review |

    In 2021, extreme weather and climate events caused preventable injuries, illnesses and deaths. A clear imperative exists to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the sustainability and climate resilience of health systems. Countries and communities must implement strategies to mitigate climate change and invest in health systems to protect their populations.

    • Kristie L. Ebi

  • Comment |

    The incidence of kidney diseases from communicable and non-communicable causes is expected to increase globally — especially in low and middle-income countries — as a consequence of global warming. As this increase could lead to overburdening of health-care systems, action is crucial to minimize the negative impacts of climate change on kidney health.

    • Matthew A. Borg
    •  & Peng Bi

  • Review Article |

    Here, the authors outline the relationship between environmental change and kidney diseases and discuss the environmental impact of kidney care delivery, focusing on dialysis. They highlight existing opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint of nephrology, as well as areas for future research.

    • Katherine A. Barraclough
    •  & John W. M. Agar

  • Review Article |

    The identification of modifiable risk factors that are associated with declining renal function is required to stem the increasing incidence of chronic kidney disease worldwide. In this Review, Howard Trachtman and colleagues discuss the impact of environmental chemicals on cardiorenal function. They highlight the ubiquity of exposure to environmental chemicals in the general public, the main sources of contamination, and the predominant adverse effects that might affect renal function.

    • Anglina Kataria
    • , Leonardo Trasande
    •  & Howard Trachtman

  • News & Views |

    It is now accepted that climate change is occurring as a result of human activity and that it will have potentially devastating effects on health. Nephrologists are likely to see a changing spectrum of disease as a consequence of climate change and are ideally placed to lead mitigating strategies in health-care provision.

    • Charles Tomson
    •  & Andrew Connor

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Earth and environmental sciences across other nature.com journals