Climate Change and the Health of Nations

When we think of "climate change," we think of man-made global warming, caused by greenhouse gas emissions. But natural climate change has occurred throughout human history, and populations have had to adapt to the climate's vicissitudes. Anthony J. McMichael, a renowned epidemiologist and a pioneer in the field of how human health relates to climate change, is the ideal person to tell this story.Climate Change and the Health of Nations shows how the natural environment has vast direct and indirect repercussions for human health and welfare. McMichael takes us on a tour of human history through the lens of major transformations in climate. From the very beginning of our species some five million years ago, human biology has evolved in response to cooling temperatures, new food sources, and changing geography. As societies began to form, they too adapted in relation to theirenvironments, most notably with the development of agriculture eleven thousand years ago. Agricultural civilization was a Faustian bargain, however: the prosperity and comfort that an agrarian society provides relies on the assumption that the environment will largely remain stable. Indeed, for agriculture tosucceed, environmental conditions must be just right, which McMichael refers to as the "Goldilocks phenomenon." Global warming is disrupting this balance, just as other climate-related upheavals have tested human societies throughout history. As McMichael shows, the break-up of the Roman Empire, the bubonic Plague of Justinian, and the mysterious collapse of Mayan civilization all have roots in climate change.Why devote so much analysis to the past, when the daunting future of climate change is already here? Because the story of mankindâs previous survival in the face of an unpredictable and unstable climate, and of the terrible toll that climate change can take, could not be more important as we face the realities of a warming planet. This sweeping magnum opus is not only a rigorous, innovative, and fascinating exploration of how the climate affects the human condition, but also an urgent callto recognize our species' utter reliance on the earth as it is.

In Climate Change and the Health of Nations, the late Anthony McMichael connects the dots, rewinding the tape of history, in the words of historian Geoffrey Parker, to examine how climatic shifts have affected the evolution of human beings and their societies and the health of populations., He deftly traces the great environmental "undercurrents that shaped the fates of civilisations, their cultures, ideologies, and power structures". He calls for an extraordinary civilisational response. McMichael is optimistic about the world's "mega-problem". He tells the story for the first time of "the historical interplay between climate change, human health, disease, and survival". It is a magnificent treatise. It demands our attention. And action., [Climate Change and the Health of Nations] lucidly, and at times lyrically, chronicles 200,000 years of human history through a climate lens., The book's goal is not to make predictions but to motivate change, which McMichael does by bringing into focus humanity's sensitivity to fluctuations in the natural climate system throughout history., The writing is clear, unadorned, and engaging. The scholarly reach is breathtaking ... This splendid book is a call to action ... And if we are successful, as we must be, Tony McMichael's contributions will live on as a vital part of that legacy.

Anthony John McMichael (1942-2014), was Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. He previously was Professor of Epidemiology at the ANU and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.