Earth Day at 40
Gaia by Alex Grey
Only 40 years ago, the image of our planet as a fragile blue ball in space inspired the first Earth Day. Though people today are more aware than ever of the need to take care of the environment, challenges remain. Here at Global Pulse, we wanted to bring together stories of innovation and help increase awareness of the health aspects of environmentalism. On that note, Framing Science put together an excellent post on the inter-agency NIH report on the human health impacts of climate change, which range across a variety of health disciplines including:
- Asthma, respiratory allergies, and airway diseases
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular disease and stroke
- Foodborne diseases and nutrition
- Heat-related morbidity and mortality
- Human developmental effects
- Mental health and stress-related disorders
- Neurological diseases and disorders
- Waterborne diseases
- Weather-related morbidity and mortality
- Vectorborne and zoonotic diseases (like malaria, which can be transmitted from animals to humans)
One key aspect to addressing these challenges will be to re-invent farming to feed the future population, projected to hit 9 billion people by 2050, while at the same time preserving ecosystems. In the past decade, humanity past the point where over 50% of our population lives in urban areas, making cities vital to ensuring the future health of the planet and her people. The second great epidemiological revolution succeeded in part by controlling the health of our water,. Innovative architect Manit Rastogi plans to do the same for Delhi by transforming the polluted network of Nullahs (sewage laden stream) into a pedestrian and cycling network by using bio-remediation embankments. In San Francisco, newly launched Urban Forest Map is helping citizens take care of their city trees via the web.
As future medical professionals, many of us often cringe at the amount of waste generated by laboratories in the service of medicine and research. Oscillator gives a personal touch to this and shows a few simple ways to reduce waste in the lab while the EPA and DOE are busy designing the green lab of tomorrow.
About The Author
John Pearson
John F. Pearson is a first-year medical student at St. George's University and a Research Fellow with the Children's Hospital Informatics Program at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology. He currently conducts spatial epidemiology research into the effects of air pollution on chronic diseases. His goal is to bridge geospatial technologies with real-world clinical applications to improve the health of communities worldwide. Prior to medical school, his work focused on environmental sustainability and urban planning, which he hopes to see incorporated into the medical profession. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a dual degree in Biology and Earth & Geographic Science. He joined Global Pulse in 2010.
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