Instructions to Authors Global Change and Human Health; Reviews on Globalisation, Environmental Change and Health

Instructions for Authors

Instructions to Authors Global Change and Human Health; Reviews on Globalisation, Environmental Change and Health     

Global Change and Human Health: Reviews on Globalisation, Environmental Change and Health

Foreword

Global Change and Human Health: Reviews on Globalisation, Environmental Change and Health     

Eco-epidemiology: On the Need to Measure Health Effects from Global Change

To prevent harm to human health from degrading ecosystems, epidemiologists need useful indicators that are sensitive to those shifts in health status that might parallel these declines. Traditional measures of health (e.g., life expectancy, infant mortality) are intuitively linkable to effects from environmental degradation but, in fact, they do not appear to provide early warning indications of negative ecological impacts on health. Alternative health measures, such as social well-being, may be needed for epidemiological research. New measures must combine those factors having policy relevance, including sensitive measures of well-being and of health, with models of those human behaviours that contribute to ecological declines. Exposure factors (e.g., pollution) made worse by ecosystem changes (e.g., global warming) also are relevant. In addition, epidemiologists must be able to relate health outcomes not only to the traditional base of geo-political boundaries (e.g., census tracts or countries), but more appropriately to eco-regions (e.g., climate regions). Only then could direct comparisons of effect be made between areas that have eco-region as the common base for defining both denominators and numerator events for rate calculations and comparisons. In conclusion, administrative infrastructure is needed so that meaningful eco-epidemiology can be conducted. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Global Change and Health — The Good, The Bad and The Evidence

Debates over the merits and demerits of globalisation for health are increasingly polarised. Conclusions range from globalisation being essentially positive for health, albeit with a need to smooth out some rough edges, to one of utter condemnation, with adverse effects on the majority of the world's population. Anyone wading into this debate is immediately confronted by seemingly irreconcilable differences in ideology, opinion and interests. Both camps agree that global changes are occurring, and with them many of the determinants of population health status. While some skepticism persists about whether “globalisation” has value beyond being a fashionable buzzword, most agree that we need better understanding of these changes. Two difficult questions arise: (i) What are the health impacts of these changes; and (ii) how can we respond more effectively to them? To move beyond the stand-offs that have already formed within the health community, this paper reviews the main empirical evidence that currently exists, summarises key points of debate that remain, and suggests some ways forward for the research and policy communities. In particular, there is need for an informed and inclusive debate about the positive and negative health consequences of globalisation.     

Semi‐Arid Aquifer Responses to Forest Restoration Treatments and Climate Change

The purpose of this study was to develop an interpretive groundwater‐flow model to assess the impacts that planned forest restoration treatments and anticipated climate change will have on large regional, deep (>400 m), semi‐arid aquifers. Simulations were conducted to examine how tree basal area reductions impact groundwater recharge from historic conditions to 2099. Novel spatial analyses were conducted to determine areas and rates of potential increases in groundwater recharge. Changes in recharge were applied to the model by identifying zones of basal area reduction from planned forest restoration treatments and applying recharge‐change factors to these zones. Over a 10‐year period of forest restoration treatment, a 2.8% increase in recharge to one adjacent groundwater basin (the Verde Valley sub‐basin) was estimated, compared to conditions that existed from 2000 to 2005. However, this increase in recharge was assumed to quickly decline after treatment due to regrowth of vegetation and forest underbrush and their associated increased evapotranspiration. Furthermore, simulated increases in groundwater recharge were masked by decreases in water levels, stream baseflow, and groundwater storage resulting from surface water diversions and groundwater pumping. These results indicate that there is an imbalance between water supply and demand in this regional, semi‐arid aquifer. Current water management practices may not be sustainable into the far future and comprehensive action should be taken to minimize this water budget imbalance.     

Assessing Water Quality of Mamasın Dam,Turkey: Using Water Quality Index Method,Ecological and Health Risk Assessments

The water quality of Mamas?n Dam, the drinking water source for Aksaray in Turkey, is investigated for assessment of ecological and health risks according to data between December 2015 and November 2016. Water quality index, ecological risk, and health risk assessments are determined to depend on the intensity of occurrence of parameters and seasonal and spatial distributions at different depth ranges. As a result, some ions such as Al, As, B, Ba, Co, F, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn were found to be exceeding the limit values of the national regulatory standards. Besides, Pb is listed in Priority Substances and Certain Other Pollutants according to Annex II. Because the WQI values of the water quality are low (below 60), the source is suitable for industrial and agricultural usage; however, it cannot be used for drinking water supply without treatment. The trace element levels, especially Ag, Ba, Cu, Cr, and Zn, are potential pollutants for organisms. The non‐carcinogenic health risks of As threaten both adults and children at “medium” and “high” levels through oral ingestion. The B, F, and Pb elements have Hazard Index values above 0.1 and may cause a “low” level risk chronic disease for children by oral ingestion.     

Tannery Effluents: Current Practices,Environmental Consequences,Human Health Risks,and Treatment Options

The tannery industry influences the gross domestic product/economic activity of any country, but the uncontrolled release of tannery effluents causes environmental degradation and increases health risks to human. The reason for the toxicity of tannery effluents is the presence of high concentrations of organic and inorganic chemicals used in the production of leather goods. Untreated or partially treated effluents discharged into surface water results in an increase in both chemical and biological oxygen demand as well as in an increase in the levels of total suspended solids, dissolved solids, and toxic metals in environmental bodies, especially in soil, water bodies, and water sediments. Various treatment techniques, such as physicochemical, biological, and advanced oxidation methods, which include chemical precipitation, electrocoagulation, aerobic or anaerobic treatment, wetland construction, and Fenton, electro-Fenton, and photo-Fenton processes are also described. This review also discusses the technical appropriateness and economic feasibility of reducing the effluent pollution load and solid waste emanating from the tannery industry. Considering the enhanced health risks in the tannery waste treatment and management regime, some green and advanced technologies should be explored. A sustainable green technology that avoids the use of toxic chemicals in the tanning process is seen well for ecological health.     

Assessment of Associations Between Climate and Infectious Diseases: A Comparison of the Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Research Council (NRC), and United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)

This comparative review of three assessment reports, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (IPCC), The National Research Council (NRC), and United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), respectively is presented in response to comments in the press suggesting that the three reports varied substantially in their assessments of associations between global climate and infectious disease in humans. Comparisons of the assessment teams, approach, reports' findings, views on predictive modeling, recommendations to policymakers and future research are presented. All teams were interdisciplinary, two international, one US-based. Although their approaches differed somewhat, all addressed the role of climate change, El Niño and climate variability, and ultimately, human health, especially infectious disease. The panels agreed that a paucity of long-term data and complexity of relationships among factors affecting climate variability and change and human health rendered projections of current predictive models inadequate as the basis for policy decisions. Each team suggested further study of associations among climate variability/climate change and human infectious disease and downscaled models to project regional and subregional outcomes. Each added additional areas for investigation, e.g., mathematical modeling, effects of socioeconomic factors, emergence of zoonotic disease in humans, transmission dynamics of disease agents. Rather than disagreements, there were differences in emphasis on known components and on hypothesized additional contributing factors and relationships among climate and human infectious disease variables.     

Death, Disease and Deformity; Using Outbreaks in Animals as Sentinels for Emerging Environmental Health Risks

In "Airs, Waters and Places, " Hippocrates taught aspiring physicians that, to understand their patient's illness, they needed to understand their patient's environment. He recognized that people's well-being was linked to their environment. Hippocrates instructed his readers to use observations of the seasons, the water and the orientation of a city to classify the major health problems of the inhabitants. While his causal framework for explaining the pathogenesis of disease may seem rudimentary and misguided in light of today's medical understanding, Hippocrates knew that many health problems arose from our interactions with the environment and he tried to do what we continue to want to do today: to predict the occurrence of disease in order to better care for his patients.     

Environmental Risk and Environmental Damage to Surface Water Quality: Topicality,Terminology, Quantitative Estimates

The concepts of environmental risk and environmental hazard to surface water quality are discussed. The interpretation of these concepts in different countries is analyzed and a list of more exact terms and definitions regarding these concepts is proposed. A method for estimating the environmental risk and environmental damage to surface water quality is developed. Possible applications of the estimated environmental risk and environmental hazard for surface water quality management are discussed.