Weather, climate, and public health

摘要

Many texts concerning epidemiology and public health, especially those on health matters related to environmental factors, start by quoting words written by Hippocrates more than 2000 years ago. As we see in the quotation above, this wise Greek doctor considered seasonal changes as fundamental factors in the explanation of health phenomena occurrence. Twenty four centuries later this matter still creates great interest not only among researchers and health professionals, but also among decision makers and the general population. One of the main reasons for this is the growing worry concerning the potential impact on health of an increase of ambient temperature because of the process of "global warming".