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Cover image of Ecosystem Change and Public Health
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Ecosystem Change and Public Health

A Global Perspective

edited by Joan L. Aron, Ph.D., and Jonathan A. Patz, M.D., M.P.H.

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Recognized as an outstanding educational product by the 2001 NASA Earth Science Enterprise Education Product Peer Review

"The purpose of this textbook on global ecosystem change and human health is twofold:(1) to raise awareness of changes in human health related to global ecosystem change and (2) to expand the scope of the traditional curriculum in environmental health to include the interactions of major environmental forces and public health on a global scale."—from the Introduction

Ecosystem Change and Public Health focuses on how human health is affected by global ecosystem changes. It is...

Recognized as an outstanding educational product by the 2001 NASA Earth Science Enterprise Education Product Peer Review

"The purpose of this textbook on global ecosystem change and human health is twofold:(1) to raise awareness of changes in human health related to global ecosystem change and (2) to expand the scope of the traditional curriculum in environmental health to include the interactions of major environmental forces and public health on a global scale."—from the Introduction

Ecosystem Change and Public Health focuses on how human health is affected by global ecosystem changes. It is the first textbook devoted to this emerging field, offering a global perspective on research methods and emphasizing empirical investigations of health outcomes in combination with integrated assessment for policy development. The book covers such topics as global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, water resources management, and ecology and infectious disease. Case studies of cholera, malaria, the effects of water resources, and global climate change and air pollution illustrate the analysis and methodology. The book also includes a resource center describing places to start searches on the World Wide Web, guidelines for finding and evaluating information, suggested study projects, and strategies for encouraging communication among course participants.

Reviews

Reviews

The global disruption of the ecosystem caused by changing human behavior during the last two centuries creates the need for new public health specialists who can understand environmental and social science specialists and act in concert with them. With Joan L. Aron and Jonathan A. Patz' book, the next generation is undoubtedly better equipped than its predecessors to do so.

A most useful contribution to informed discussion of global changes. Richly referenced with many website coordinates as well as conventional citations to journal articles and monographs. A very valuable addition to the literature on ecosystems and human health. Graduate students taking courses with this as a guide will have their knowledge enriched, their skills strengthened, and their awareness of the issues greatly enhanced.

This is an outstanding interdisciplinary text for upper level undergraduate and graduate students in studying the connections between global change and public policy. Logically written, well-organized, and straightforward, it provides an Earth systems approach to current global change studies. The wide array of references, the Suggested Study Projects, and the two appendices that provide outstanding information, are well structured for educational inquiry, and enhance student learning.

One of the first books to explore the interface between public health and global ecosystem changes. Highly recommended for graduate students in public health, upper-division undergraduates in a range of disciplines, researchers, faculty, and practitioners.

In short, it is an innovative and timely textbook which will influence the evolution of teaching and research in this topic area, whose international importance continues to grow rapidly.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
7
x
10
Pages
504
ISBN
9780801874581
Illustration Description
10 halftones, 59 line drawings
Table of Contents

List of Contributors
Foreword, by Carlos Morel
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: How to Use This Book
Part I: Approches
Chapter 1. Information on Issues of Global Change
Chapter 2. Epidemiological

List of Contributors
Foreword, by Carlos Morel
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: How to Use This Book
Part I: Approches
Chapter 1. Information on Issues of Global Change
Chapter 2. Epidemiological Study Designs
Chapter 3. Geographical Information Sysytems
Chapter 4. The Science/Policy Interface
Chapter 5. Integrated Assessment
Part II: Environmenal Changes
Chapter 6. Human Populations in the Shared Environment
Chapter 7. The Changing Chemistry of Earth's Atmosphere
Chapter 8. An Earth Science Perspective on Global Change
Chapter 9. Water Resources Management
Chapter 10. Ecology and Infectious Disease
Part III: Case Studies
Chapter 11. Cholera and Global Ecosystems
Chapter 12. Malaria and Global Ecosystem Change
Chapter 13. Global Climate Change and Air Pollution: Interactions and Their Effects on Human Health
Chapter 14. Too Little, Too Much: How the Quantity of Water Affetcs Human Healthn
A. Stimulating Inquiry: Textbooks and Information Literacy in the Internet Environment
B. The Resource Center
List of Abbreviations
Glossary
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Joan L. Aron, Ph.D.

Joan L. Aron, Ph.D. is president of Science Communication Studies and an associate in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Featured Contributor

Jonathan A. Patz, M.D., M.P.H.

Jonathan A. Patz, M.D., M.P.H. is an assistant professor and director of the Program on Health Effects of Global Environmental Change in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
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