The human ecology of climate change - Climate Change: Biological and Human Aspects - page 393

Population size ( P )
Economic impact
level and type ( A T )

Shifting Earth system
balances

Shifting societal balances:
fecundity, affluence
(poverty), etc.

Health

E n v r n m e n (interacting with …) P o p u l a i o n ( f e c i g …)

Depletion
Biodiversity
Freshwater systems
Fisheries
Forests

Competition
and conflict

Various
effects
on
human

health

Population
disturbance

Degradation
Agricultural systems
Waterways

Fig. 7.11 Globalenvironmentalchange,developmentandhealthimpacts.FurtherdevelopedfromMcMichaeland

Haines(1997).

British press write some colourful copy. And so The Times informed us that during
heatwaves the clock of the Palace at Westminster in London (colloquially known as
Big Ben) slows down but also that there were 5-15% more recorded sexual offences
during the unusually warm summers of 1976, 1989 and 1990 (Coates and Cohen,
2003). While the psychology of climate change is itself a fascinating subject, and has
been outlined elsewhere (Cowie, 1998), global warming has more immediate effects
on human biology. Indeed, during the 2003 heatwave it was reported that the UN
Early Warning and Assessment Centre was considering concerns that global warming
would impact on human health through changes in the geographical distribution of
disease, flooding and sea-level rise. This prompted the UK Environment Minister at
the time, Elliot Morely, to comment that climate change 'is a major threat to our
global community and one that has to be taken seriously'. The relationship between
climate change, development and health impacts is summarised in Figure 7.11.
Climate change affects human health through processes mediated by disturbances
of ecological systems (Chapters 4 and 5). The degree and nature of recent and future
health effects from climate change is related to the nature of the said climate change
(Chapters 5 and 6). However, in terms of energy, climate and human health, these
dimensions have only recently come to the fore in academic discussions even though
there were earlier greenhouse warnings arising from fossil fuel use (Chapter 1).
In the early 20th century the concern of industrial countries, regarding energy
and environment matters, focused on ensuring that people were warm enough in the
winter and, to a lesser degree, cool enough in the summer. Here the energy conclusions
of Sir (Sydney) Frank Markham's sociological analysis of 1942 are typical and are
reflected in its title, Climate and the Energy of Nations , which he further developed
in a 1944 edition in the middle of World War II (Markham, 1944). Sir Markham
had an interest in history, having a humanities degree from the University of Oxford
and being President of the Museums Association, and also in politics and science,
being a Parliamentarian for 35 years, during which his duties included terms as