Environmental Change and Human Health

The object of this symposium was to discuss those aspects of environmental change which might have direct or indirect effects on human health. Issues examined included water pollution, agriculture, nutrition and population growth, genetic disease and exotic tropical diseases.

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Environmental Change and Human Health Chairman: Alexander J. B. Zehnder 1993 Many aspects of the global environment are changing now, and will continue to change in the future. There has been much recent interest in the likelihood of systematic changes in weather patterns, with their consequent effects on sea-levels, but some aspects of environmental change, such as pollution, have been a continuing subject of research for many years. Any environmental change can ultimately affect human life, and the object of this Ciba Foundation - EERO symposium was to discuss those aspects of environmental change which might have direct or indirect effects on human health. Summaries of foreseeable environmental changes, including those to climate, sea-level and chemical pollution, are presented. The implications of these changes for human health are then examined in detail. The issues discussed include pollution of air, water and soil, the effects of climate changes on agricultural production, human nutrition and population growth, genetic disease, radiation-induced disease, respiratory disease and exotic tropical diseases, particularly those transmitted by insects.
The effects of deforestation, urbanization and water developments such as irrigation and damming are considered. Problems of global epidemiology are also discussed, as are the special problems facing developing countries. Related Ciba Foundation Symposia: No. 177 Crop protection and sustainable agriculture Chairman: J. C. Zadoks 1993 ISBN 0 471 93944 7 No. 169 Aluminium in biology and medicine Chairman: R. J. P. Williams 1992 ISBN 0 471 93413 5 No. 156 The childhood environment and adult disease Chairman: D. J. P. Barker 1991 ISBN 0 471 92957 3