Continuing ecosystem degradation threatens human health
The consequences are especially acute in developing countries, world health experts warn.
Roughly 60% of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides—including fresh water, clean air, and a relatively stable climate—are being degraded or used unsustainably, warns a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Human populations, particularly in poorer countries, are already experiencing the harmful consequences, which could grow significantly worse over the next 50 years.
As part of the UN’s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report series, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Health Synthesis documents how rapid ecosystem changes, which are being fueled by population growth and economic development, are already impacting or could impact human health. Some of the most serious problems, according to WHO, are
- degradation of fisheries and agricultural lands, contributing to the malnutrition of about 800 million people worldwide;
- depletion and contamination of water supplies, leading to waterborne infectious diseases that cause approximately 6% of all deaths globally; and
- dependency on solid fuels—such as wood, crop stubble, and animal dung—for cooking and heating, causing indoor air pollution that is responsible for about 3% of global respiratory diseases and is a factor in deforestation.
The health risks posed by such ecosystem degradation, including the emergence and spread of new infectious diseases, must be addressed, WHO maintains.
