Tracing the Connection Between Chronic Illness and Climate Change

Lorraine Boissoneault spent her twenties and thirties getting sicker. Her thyroid dysregulated. Her heart became arrhythmic. Doctors told her to manage stress and lose weight, but the diagnoses kept coming—inflamed joints, then endometriosis—and the medical advice never changed. Meanwhile, Boissoneault was working as an editor for The Weather Channel, tracking hurricanes and atmospheric changes. 

After being diagnosed with six autoimmune diseases, Boissoneault began mapping her body’s systems onto weather patterns—thyroid onto temperature regulation, hea...