Introducing Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves

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planetary health alliance

Aug 13, 2020

The Planetary Health Alliance, together with Island Press, is thrilled to announce the publication of Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves, co-edited by Dr. Samuel Myers and Dr. Howard Frumkin with contributions from widely recognized experts! Human health depends on the health of the planet. Earth’s natural systems—the air, the water, the biodiversity, the climate—are our life support. Yet climate change, biodiversity loss, scarcity of land and freshwater, pollution and other threats are degrading these systems. The emerging field of planetary health aims to understand how these changes threaten our health and how to protect ourselves and the rest of the biosphere.

Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves provides a readable introduction to this new paradigm. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book addresses a wide range of health impacts felt in the Anthropocene, including food and nutrition, infectious and non-communicable diseases, dislocation and conflict, and mental health. It also presents strategies to combat environmental changes and its ill-effects, such as controlling toxic exposures, investing in clean energy, improving urban design, and more. Chapters are authored by widely recognized experts.

The result is a comprehensive and optimistic overview of a growing field that is being adopted by researchers and universities worldwide. Students of public health will gain a solid grounding in the new challenges their profession must confront, while those in the environmental sciences, agriculture, design professions, and other fields will become familiar with the human consequences of planetary changes. Understanding how our changing environment affects our health is increasingly critical to a variety of disciplines and professions. Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves is the definitive guide to this vital field. Be sure to explore the Annotated Bibliography and download the figures from the book for your course's PowerPoint presentations as well as browse through other educator resources.

Together with Planetary Health Case Studies: An Anthology of Solutions, these two planetary health education resources are designed to complement one another through corresponding learning themes, objectives, and in-text references. We encourage readers and educators to use the case study anthology and teaching guides in tandem with this seminal book to provide a well-rounded understanding of planetary health in the classroom and beyond.
Order the book on the Island Press website with 20% off discount code: PLANET

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Planetary Health

Planetary Health Alliance

The Planetary Health Alliance is a consortium of over 340 universities, government entities, research institutes, and other partners around the world committed to understanding and addressing global environmental change and its health impacts.