Climate Change and Cancer: Two Problems, One Possible Solution

By S.D. Martin of Amata Green

Increasing intensity & frequency of Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes.

Multiple-day heat waves and record-breaking high temperatures.

An increased number of very intense tropical cyclones.

Wildfires, drought, and more severe weather when it snows or rains.

Rising temperatures of the atmosphere, on the land and in the ocean.

Accelerated incidence of daily tidal flooding in more than 25 Atlantic and Gulf Coast cities.

This is the trajectory our world is in today. This is climate change.

What if, in the next thirty years, we could not only stop climate change but reverse it?

What if we could not only reverse climate change, but at the same time, drastically reduce the global burden of cancer and chronic illness—with the same solution?

I believe we can. I envision a future where we defeat climate change AND the chronic diseases plaguing humanity in one fell swoop. But wait—you might ask, how are cancer, chronic illness, and climate change even connected?

Let’s begin with this:

Cancer is a disease that happens when abnormal cells grow out of control, crowding out healthy cells and often spreading to other parts of the body. It’s a ruthless condition —sometimes forming tumours, sometimes ravaging the immune system, and always disrupting life as we know it.

Chronic disease is the slow burn of modern suffering. It’s not just one illness but a vast web of inflammatory, degenerative, and autoimmune conditions — heart disease, diabetes, asthma, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and yes, cancer. These illnesses often stem from the same root causes: environmental toxins, nutrient-poor food, chronic stress, and the breakdown of natural systems around us. Chronic disease doesn't just happen — it builds silently over years of exposure to polluted air, contaminated water, ultra-processed foods, and a world increasingly out of balance.

One way cancer and many other chronic diseases takes hold is through constant exposure to toxic substances in our environment. And this isn’t in some far-off industrial zone. This is inside our homes, in our cleaning products, in our personal care items, in the air we breathe, in the food we eat. The pantry. The fridge. The water we drink. The vegetables sprayed with glyphosate. The air we breathe after pesticide application next door.

Cancer is killing people. Chronic disease is killing people — or worse, making them suffer for a lifetime.

Climate change, is like Mother Nature’s own chronic illness. A degenerative condition caused by pollution, extraction, and imbalance. In this system, we humans are behaving like the cancerous cells, spreading unchecked, overwhelming ecosystems, and throwing the planet out of alignment. And in theory, the Earth could still recover if humans were to radically shift how we interact with it.

One of the most powerful shifts we can make is to change how we grow food, because that’s where the toxins begin. We drench our crops in synthetic fertilisers and pesticides — substances designed to kill life. These chemicals seep into aquifers, rivers, oceans. They leach into our food, alter our hormones, disrupt our microbiomes, and become part of the toxic load our bodies, and the planet, must bear. These chemicals are not benign. They contribute to everything from metabolic disorders to hormonal cancers.

Now, imagine something different.

Imagine food grown organically — in soil rich with life, not chemicals.

Imagine a plate of vegetables that aren’t just free from toxins but are also bursting full of nutrients because they were grown in soil alive with microbial diversity.

This is where biochar comes in.

Farmers are the unsung heroes of our planet. They feed us, nourish us, and care for the land. And they deserve better tools—tools that heal the land, not poison it. Biochar is one of those tools. It’s a form of charcoal made by heating organic biomass (like crop waste) in the absence of oxygen — a process called pyrolysis. The result is a porous, carbon-rich material that, when added to soil, holds onto carbon for hundreds, even thousands of years.

But biochar is more than just a carbon trap. Under the microscope, it’s a sponge — a haven for beneficial microbes. It increases soil fertility, helps plants grow stronger and more resilient, reduces the need for chemical inputs, and prevents water runoff. When used as part of a regenerative agricultural system, it transforms dead dirt into living soil. It’s a step toward growing organic food that truly heals. 

And organic food isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. A necessity for life.

We cannot afford to keep eating food laced with poisons. If we want to reverse the tide of cancer, autoimmune disease, infertility, neurological disorders, and chronic inflammation, we need food grown in clean, carbon-rich, microbe-thriving soil. Soil that has been rebuilt with regenerative techniques like composting, cover cropping, rotational grazing — and yes, biochar.

Biochar is a bridge—a way to sequester carbon while restoring fertility and transition to growing organic and truly healthy food.

Organic food is the outcome — a medicine that helps us heal.

Regenerative agriculture is the path — a system that heals the Earth while feeding us well.

So how do we solve climate change, cancer and environmentally driven chronic disease in one go?

✅We sequester carbon in the soil using biochar.

✅We stop spraying poison on our food.

✅We invest in regenerative farming and grow organic, nutrient-rich crops.

✅We eat consciously and support the people healing the land.

We can’t keep biochar a secret any longer. We can’t keep pretending organic food is just a trend. This is the solution hiding in plain sight. Our bodies need clean food to heal. Our Earth needs clean soil to recover. The link between planetary health and human health is undeniable

To heal from cancer and chronic disease, we must heal the Earth.

And to heal the Earth, we must change how we farm.

Our lives depend on it.