Planetary health is human health

Abstract

Welcome to our special issue on climate change and health. April 22 is Earth Day, a day to galvanize our thinking around the health of our planet and our efforts to preserve it. There is no denying that climate impacts health, and humans have historically had a good record of adapting to their environments. However, the current rates of climate and environmental changes are outpacing our ability to adapt and continue thriving. Climate change affects our health globally, in subtle as well as devastating ways, from increased seasonal allergies to air-pollution-associated neonatal deaths. The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Ebola outbreak in Guinea sharply remind us that we live in a fragile balance with the environment, which is under attack by the effects of anthropogenic climate change. A concerted global focus, akin to the one underway to control the current pandemic, is needed to tackle climate changes and its plethora of effects on human health. Despite growing awareness over the last 50 years, we are faced with unprecedented human migrations, extreme weather events, new infectious diseases, and the need to rethink the concept of sustainability and food security, among other pressing health concerns. In this issue, we bring you an initial selection of Voices from experts from all over the world working at the interface of climate and health. Despite their diverse experiences, they share the imperative to increase collaborative efforts to limit and prevent the most devastating effects that environmental changes have on whole ecosystems which directly affect human health. We are also excited to offer you a series of commentaries highlighting ongoing efforts to achieve optimal climate-informed public health measures, the role of heath care professionals in response to the climate change crisis, and the impact of disease ecology on antimicrobial resistance, an ongoing serious threat. We also bring you the experiences from low-and-middle income countries on pandemic control and reflections on vaccine equity, which offer policy-based approaches to tackling the future global medical crises. Although we are all affected by climate change, the health repercussions across populations and people vary and are compounded by existing socio-economic inequities throughout the world. Addressing and redressing climate change is an extremely complex and highly politicized tug-of-war between short-term realities and long-term necessities within and among countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus how global cooperation and equitable access to health resources are required to fight the disease. The same local and global urgency needs to be applied to address climate change in an inclusive and decisive way, moving from talk to action. We all need to be accountable. There is no planet B.