Ecosystem Change and Public Health

Joan L. Aron, Ph.D. is president of Science Communication Studies and an associate in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Jonathan A. Patz, M.D., M.P.H. is an assistant professor and director of the Program on Health Effects of Global Environmental Change in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

• Contents: List of Contributors Foreword, by Carlos Morel Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction: How to Use This Book Purpose The Target Audience Multiple Ways to Use the Chapters Electronic References and Information Literacy The Format of Suggested Study Projects Conclusion PART I: APPROACHES 1 Information on Issues of Global Change, by Erika G. Feulner 2 Epidemiological Study Designs, by Alfred A. Buck and Joan L. Aron 3 Geographical Information Sysytems, by Joan L. Aron and Gregory E. Glass 4 The Science/Policy Interface, by Jonathan M. Samet 5 Integrated Assessment, Joan L. Aron, J. Hugh Ellis, and Benjamin F. Hobbs PART II: ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES 6 Human Populations in the Shared Environment, by Dennis C. Pirages, Paul J. Runci, and Robert H. Sprinkle 7 The Changing Chemistry of Earth's Atmosphere, by Steven A. Lloyd 8 An Earth Science Perspective on Global Change, by George W. Fisher 9 Water Resources Management, by Nicolaas J. P. M. de Groot 10 Ecology and Infectious Disease, by Mark L. Wilson PART III: CASE STUDIES 11 Cholera and Global Ecosystems, by Anwar Huq, R. Bradley Sack, and Rita R. Colwell 12 Malaria and Global Ecosystem Change, by Joan L. Aron, Clive J. Shiff, and Alfred J. Buck 13 Global Climate Change and Air Pollution: Interactions and Their Effects on Human Health, by Jonathan A. Patz and John M. Balbus 14 Too Little, Too Much: How the Quantity of Water Affetcs Human Health, by Les Roberts, Ulisses E.C. Confalonieri, and Joan L. Aron A Stimulating Inquiry: Textbooks and Information Literacy in the Internet Environment, by Erika G. Feulner B The Resource Center, compiled by Erika G. Feulner List of Abbreviations Glossary, by Joan L. Aron and Mark L. Wilson Index

The global disruption of the ecosystem caused by changing human behavior during the last two centuries creates the need for new public health specialists who can understand environmental and social science specialists and act in concert with them. With Joan L. Aron and Jonathan A. Patz' book, the next generation is undoubtedly better equipped than its predecessors to do so. -- Jean Lebel, Ph.D. Journal of the American Medical Association A most useful contribution to informed discussion of global changes. Richly referenced with many website coordinates as well as conventional citations to journal articles and monographs. A very valuable addition to the literature on ecosystems and human health. Graduate students taking courses with this as a guide will have their knowledge enriched, their skills strengthened, and their awareness of the issues greatly enhanced. -- John M. LastMD Ecosystem Health This is an outstanding interdisciplinary text for upper level undergraduate and graduate students in studying the connections between global change and public policy. Logically written, well-organized, and straightforward, it provides an Earth systems approach to current global change studies. The wide array of references, the Suggested Study Projects, and the two appendices that provide outstanding information, are well structured for educational inquiry, and enhance student learning. NASA Earth Science Enterprise One of the first books to explore the interface between public health and global ecosystem changes. Highly recommended for graduate students in public health, upper-division undergraduates in a range of disciplines, researchers, faculty, and practitioners. Choice In short, it is an innovative and timely textbook which will influence the evolution of teaching and research in this topic area, whose international importance continues to grow rapidly. -- Tony McMichael Bulletin of the World Health Organization [ Ecosystem Change and Public Health] provides a bridge between traditional public health disciplines and new concerns, and as a model of the new generation of textx it is well worth reading. -- Alistair Woodward International Journal of Epidemiology [ Ecosystem Change and Public Health] provides navigational tools and supplemental resources that together serve as a springboard from which interested scholars can actively explore the issues and interrelationships that underlie ecosytem change and public health. -- Meredith L. Golden Environment Ecosystem Change and Public Health is an impressive text that is sure to become a key reference on the subject. -- Thomas Tenkate Environmental Health