Ecological Debt: the health of the planet and the wealth of nations

摘要

The effects of global environmental change increasingly intrude into the work of the public health practitioner and the public health researcher, whatever the field of interest. Public health concerns include the expanded range of vector-borne diseases with the rise in global temperatures, the spread of organic and heavy-metal pollutants with global industrialisation, the increase in natural disasters with the disruption of climatic cycles, and the vulnerability of lower socio-economic groups in all countries. Adding the effects together, there is growing concern for the quality, and even the viable future, of human life on Earth.