CIESIN Thematic Guides
This overview provides general background on the relationship between environment and human health, the current status of both, and the potential impact of global environmental change on the health of future populations. Research on global environmental change and health is still in its infancy, and the vast majority of the literature focuses on the effects of climate change. Still it is possible to develop an understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms relating health and environment; an awareness of the most pressing environmental health concerns that challenge populations around the globe; and a general knowledge of current research on how environmental change may affect human health.
Several good sources offer basic discussions of the state of the environment and health around the world and how the environment affects health. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published three overviews in recent years that are available here. The chapter "Health" in The World Environment 1972-1992 provides a general description of key health problems and the corresponding significance of environmental risk factors for specific areas of the world (1992a). The chapter includes maps, tables, and charts that illustrate the current world health situation. Saving Our Planet includes a chapter "Human Health" that provides a summary of a few environmental health issues, highlighting concerns such as contaminated breast milk, seasonality of health effects, and synergistic effects of risk factors (1992b). UNEP's Environmental Data Report presents a compilation of high quality environmental health data from a variety of international sources: the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Agency for Research for Cancer (IARC), the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator (UNDRO), the International Road Federation (IRF), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and UNEP itself (1989). International and interregional comparisons can be made of the health status indicators described in the Environmental Data Report to determine differences and changes in prevailing environmental conditions and the role of specific risk factors.
The World Health Organization is another good source of information on environmental health issues. Selections from two complementary documents are presented here. The report of the WHO Commission on Health and Environment, Our Planet, Our Health, examines the existing knowledge and understanding of the interaction between environment and health in the context of development at the international level (1992b). The report provides recommendations for research on 1) principles guiding environmental health research and 2) development-related health research and interaction with environmental issues. WHO's Global Health Situation and Projections presents brief descriptions of"Population and Human Development" covers several health issues especially critical for children. The tables "Mortality and Nutrition 1970-95" and "Education and Child Health, 1970-90" give statistical data for selected indicators of child welfare. Additional documentation expands on the information provided in the tables.
A substantial body of literature addresses the potential health implications of climate change. Kalkstein and Valimont (1987) summarize the research concerning the historical climate-health relationship in the EPA Science and Advisory Committee monograph Potential Effects of Future Climate Changes. White and Hertz-Picciotto provide a comprehensive analysis of climate issues related to human health as part of the Department of Energy's 1985 report Characterization of Information Requirements for Studies of CO2 Effects. The chapter "Human Health" describes the basic mechanisms of physiological adaptability in humans; direct and indirect pathways by which climate and weather influence human health; the role of modifying factors; and the data needed to assess possible impacts of elevated CO2 on health. A summary table outlines "Knowns and Uncertainties Regarding Principal Climate Effects on Human Health."
More recently, researchers have attempted to predict possible health problems due to various global warming scenarios. For example, the WHO Task Group report Potential Health Effects of Climatic Change aims to assist decision-makers and public-health planners in determining potential health problems in their regions due to global climate changes caused by an increase in greenhouse gases and a decrease in the ozone layer (1990a). After describing the mechanisms of climate change, the report provides concise descriptions of direct and indirect effects on health, pointing to regional variations and general uncertainties. Last (1993) also provides a brief, but excellent, overview of the historic research and current knowledge of climate change and related health effects in the paper "Global Change: Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Warming, and Public Health." Last includes a valuable description of the range of international, national, and general public health responses to growing health concerns related to the deteriorating global environment.
Researchers continue to make important contributions to the literature. As part of WHO's effort to update and expand the 1990 publication Potential Health Effects of Climatic Change by 1995, an international group of experts met to highlight recent developments and broaden the discussion of health issues. In late 1993, The Lancet covered almost all these topics in a series of 11 articles. The articles reiterate the significance of anthropogenic damage to the biosphere on human health. In one of the concluding articles, Global Health Watch: Monitoring Impacts of Environmental Change," an international panel considers data needs, surveillance techniques, and intervention strategies (Haines, Epstein, and McMichael 1993).