The benefits to citizens of modern industrial society may have peaked sometime in the past decade or two, and now, increasingly, we are paying the penalties. Deterioration of air quality is of the major penalties. Global Climate change is another. Here is the dreary check list of more problems to come as man-made atmospheric changes accumulate. Heat waves More air pollution Depletion of stratospheric ozone - greater numbers of skin cancers More extreme and erratic weather Droughts Floods Hurricanes Deforestation and urbanization More contact with previously remote disease carriers.
Unsanitary cities are incubators for disease.
Other major diseases likely to spread with global warming are cholera, filariasis, and sleeping sickness. Until recently, scientists and policymakers had primarily focused on how the earth's physical systems would be affected by global warming, examining the potential for increased sea level rises and more frequent, bigger hurricanes. Co-sponsored by the National Science and Technology Council and the Institute of Medicine, the conference gathered a diverse group of experts from academia, government, and nongovernmental organizations. Conference participants discussed how climate change might damage human health, then made recommendations for improving global health surveillance systems, research, education of health professionals, and international cooperation. Some of their predictions are summarized here, along with an excellent review by Peter Montague.