Frequently asked questions
- How is H-earth different from global climate change and health? Environmental problems extend well beyond global climate change. There is a need for a group that looks at these integrated risks and their interaction with society and with population health.
- Why is H-earth needed and important? Deep changes of thinking and understanding are needed within the health community, in order to prepare for and to reduce the integrated, increasing threats to global population health. These changes have already eroded the underpinning conditions needed for civilization to flourish. Left unaddressed, life expectancy and total global population size may fall precipitously later this century, in a catastrophic manner.
- What will it be doing that others are not? We appreciate that many other groups and individuals, both in health and outside it, are working to promote interacting and partially overlapping goals. But we are unaware of any international collaboration of health workers trying to promote a deep understanding of these integrated "eco-social" risks.
- How is this different from One Health and EcoHealth? One Health has a greater focus on human and animal health, though some broaden it to include the earth system. Movements such as One Health are needed and are allies, but on their own are not enough. EcoHealth has more focus on ecological systems and well being than One Health. It too is an ally to H-earth. But it is less concerned with non-living aspects of the Earth system other than to the climate.
- Isn't this too big? H-earth is ambitious. But we believe that sufficient understanding is accumulating (including via the internet) to generate a large number of people who understand these integrated issues, and who will be eager to learn more and to contribute to solutions. Using an analogy from medicine, it is not enough to specialize in neurology, cardiology, and so on. It is also not enough to study and work to improve climate and health, inequality and health, or ecosystem change and health; generalists are also needed who can integrate these issues, predict their consequences, and thus help bring about the changes needed, so that global population health can flourish long into the future.
- Why is this a health issue? These broad, multi-disciplinary issues are relevant to health. We believe that the voice and actions of health workers, especially in public health, are important means to convey these concerns to the global public. H-earth is primarily motivated to reduce adverse global environmental change not because we would like to reduce the suffering of endangered species, nor protect beautiful landscapes, nor stop sea level rise because these changes, unless checked, will be ruinous to human health on a large scale. We believe it is our duty to try to convey this understanding, and we also believe that if the public was to understand this better then it would be become more successfully engaged in the effort to slow dangerous environmental change.
- Will you just do research? No, we will also teach units to public health and other students, we will develop new curricula units, and we will run intensive short courses. We will also advocate for greater understanding of these issues.