Elisabet Lindgren Health and the Global Environment

Health Effects of Global Environmental Changes   

 Our transformation of the planet is threatening our health and well-being.

Today's world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Local activities cause changes in global systems, such as the climate system,  that in turn affect human health and well-being - either directly, or indirectly through multiple systemic linkages and processes. The magnitude and type of health effects that will occur depend on local vulnerability, resilience and adaptive capacity.

The increasing global travel and trade are spreading pathogens and disease vectors rapidly around the globe, contributing to the  re-emergence of several infectious diseases and emergence of new threats.

More people are now living in cities than in rural environments. This puts development of healthy sustainable cities high on the agenda. A cost-effective sustainable trajectory for urban  planning would  be to choose solutions that have multiple benefits with positive effects on health and well-being. Nature-based solutions are emerging choices to consider since they are both sustainable and often have multiple benefits, including health co-benefits.

In order to counteract future changes in disease burden and the risk of emerging new threats  from global environmental changes we need to work transdisciplinary;  perform local risk and adaptation assessments  in a cross-sectoral context with local stakeholder involvements; and evaluate best choices of sustainable  innovations, policies, and actions  that contribute to better health for present and coming generations.

Lindgren's main focus areas:

• Climate change and health
• Sustainable healthy cities
• Sustainable healthy diets

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH

Climate change will, directly and indirectly, have an impact on burden of disease, contribute to the emergence and re-emergence of disease, and affect people's well-being, livelihoods and survival. The impact of climate change on human health and well-being will vary depending on local conditions, vulnerabilities, resilience, and adaptive capacity of society.

Health effects of climate change are associated with:

• changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events
• changes in seasonal climate affecting the ecology, transmission and geographical distribution of many infectious diseases, as well as the occurrence of allergenic pollen
• impacts of climate change on water quality and quantity, food safety and security, and air quality
• other impacts of climate change on the natural and human-made environment
• impacts of  climate change that affect infrastructure and important services of the society

Climate change often interacts with other drivers to cause consequences for people's health and well-being. The research field on climate change and health aim at

• understanding current relationships between climate factors and health
• identify changes in risk of disease from recent variations/ changes in climate
• develop theoretical or mathematical scenario models of future health effects

Climate change and health research often needs to be transdisciplinary but also includes basic science.  Local  risk and vulnerability assessments   with a science-based policy focus need to include different scientific disciplines and sectors of society as well as local stakeholders.

Society would benefit from adopting climate change mitigation/adaptation solutions that have multiple benefits with additional positive impacts on public health, when possible.

Lindgren's main focus areas related to climate change and health cover:

• Observed health-related changes from climate variations and climate change
• Climate change and changing health risks and emerging threats
• Risk, vulnerability, and adaptation assessments
• Bridging the gap between science and policy
• Science-based solutions with multiple benefits