Publication date:
20 December 2017Length of book:
232 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersDimensions:
236x159mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781442243187
Many of us have concerns about the effects of climate change on Earth, but we often overlook the essential issue of human health. This book addresses that oversight and enlightens readers about the most important aspect of one of the greatest challenges of our time.
The global environment is under massive stress from centuries of human industrialization. The projections regarding climate change for the next century and beyond are grim. The impact this will have on human health is tremendous, and we are only just now discovering what the long-term outcomes may be.
By weighing in from a physician’s perspective, Jay Lemery and Paul Auerbach clarify the science, dispel the myths, and help readers understand the threats of climate change to human health. No better argument exists for persuading people to care about climate change than a close look at its impacts on our physical and emotional well-being.
The need has never been greater for a grounded, informative, and accessible discussion about this topic. In this groundbreaking book, the authors not only sound the alarm but address the health issues likely to arise in the coming years.
The global environment is under massive stress from centuries of human industrialization. The projections regarding climate change for the next century and beyond are grim. The impact this will have on human health is tremendous, and we are only just now discovering what the long-term outcomes may be.
By weighing in from a physician’s perspective, Jay Lemery and Paul Auerbach clarify the science, dispel the myths, and help readers understand the threats of climate change to human health. No better argument exists for persuading people to care about climate change than a close look at its impacts on our physical and emotional well-being.
The need has never been greater for a grounded, informative, and accessible discussion about this topic. In this groundbreaking book, the authors not only sound the alarm but address the health issues likely to arise in the coming years.
Global warming is hazardous to human health. Lemery and Auerbach, emergency-medicine physicians and past presidents of the Wilderness Medical Society, invent the word enviromedics to describe the medical consequences of environmental change, and argue that droughts, floods, hurricanes, forest fires, pollution, and toxic waste jeopardize the future of humankind. “Earth will go on, no matter what we do to it,” they say. “The more pertinent question is, will we?” Flooding causes allergenic mold, and hotter temperatures lead to, among other things, disease-carrying mosquitoes spreading to more locations. Despite detailing a scary list of horrors, the authors beg people not to give up. After all, they say, 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked 50 years ago, and only 17 percent do today. They credit regulations (bans in public places), economics (the increased cost of cigarettes), and awareness of medical science (media campaigns). Could a similar approach work when it comes to global warming? They give the last word to young people, such as Caroline Spears, co-director of Students for a Sustainable Stanford. “I can either give up or be inspired,” she says. “I choose the latter.” In their well-researched, fact-filled treatise, Lemery and Auerbach passionately make the case for how the continuation of the human species depends on people taking better care of the planet by investing in renewable energies, consuming wisely, voting for motivated public officials, and speaking out to give future generations a chance. It’s a sobering and empowering message.