We can no longer ignore human-induced climate changes that are likely to affect our health
There is wide agreement among climatologists internationally that human-induced climate change is now under way.1 Global climate change is one of various large-scale, unprecedented environmental perturbations occurring in today's world. These environmental changes reflect the rapid increase in human domination of the biosphere as human numbers increase and as economic activities intensify.2,3 This process has, apparently, now passed certain critical points. Indeed, one recent environmental analysis showed that humankind has been operating in ecological deficit since the 1970s: we now consume and deplete Earth's natural environmental capital faster than it is being replenished and restored.4
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT.
- 1. Albritton DL, Allen MR, Baede APM, et al. Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I. Summary for policy makers. Third assessment report. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- 2. Vitousek PM, Mooney HA, Lubchenco J, Melillo JM. Human domination of earth's ecosystems. Science 1997; 277: 494-499.
- 3. McMichael AJ. Human frontiers, environments and disease: past patterns, uncertain futures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- 4. Wackernagel M, Schulz NB, Deumling D, et al. Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99: 9266-9271.
- 5. Kjellstrom TE, Neller AH, Simpson RW. The changing panorama of air pollution impacts on health. Med J Aust 2002; 177: 604-608.<eMJA full text>
- 6. Hall G, D'Souza R, Kirk M. Foodborne disease in the new millennium: out of the frying pan into the fire? Med J Aust 2002; 177: 614-618.<eMJA full text>
- 7. Langley AJ. The soiled environment. Med J Aust 2002; 177: 599-603.<eMJA full text>
- 8. Leder KS, Sinclair MI, McNeill JJ. Water and the environment: a natural resource or a limited luxury? Med J Aust 2002; 177: 609-613.<eMJA full text>
- 9. Lucas R, Ponsonby A-L. Ultraviolet radiation and health: friend and foe. Med J Aust 2002; 177: 594-598.<eMJA full text>
- 10. Lindgren E, Gustafson R. Tick-borne encephalitis in Sweden and climate change. Lancet 2001; 358: 16-18.
- 11. Patz JA, Hulme M, Rosenzweig C, et al. Increasing incidence of malaria since 1970 parallels regional warming in East Africa. Nature 2002. In press.
- 12. Rodo X, Pascual M, Fuchs G, Faruque ASG. ENSO and cholera: a nonstationary link related to climate change? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99: 12901-12906.
- 13. McMichael AJ, Githeko A. Human health. In: McCarthy JJ, Canziani OF, Leary NA, et al, editors. Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001: 451-485.
- 14. Woodruff RE, Guest CS, Garner MG, et al. Predicting Ross River virus epidemics from regional weather data. Epidemiology 2002; 13: 384-393.
- 15. Tong S, Bi P, Donald K, McMichael AJ. Climate variability and Ross River virus transmission. J Epidemiol Community Health 2002; 56: 617-621.
- 16. Guest CS, Willson K, Woodward AJ, et al. Climate and mortality in Australia: retrospective study, 1979–1990, and synoptic predictions of the health impacts of climate change in 2030. Climate Research 1999; 13: 1-15.
- 17. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. Abrupt climate change: inevitable surprises. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001.
- 18. McMichael AJ. The biosphere, sustainability and human health. Science, 2002; 297: 1093.