ABSTRACT

The environment affects health in many different ways, and at a range of scales. Very local conditions impact on individuals. Broader environmental conditions affect whole societies, or indeed the whole world. Environmental health addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours. Driving forces are upstream factors that affect society. They include population growth, technological change and economic development. The concept of sustainability emerged through recognition that development of all kinds must occur in a way that preserves natural resources and does not damage the environment. The field of sustainability has become a very active area of research that is richly interdisciplinary. The earth's climate has fluctuated substantially in the past. There have been ice ages, and there was a medieval warm period. Temperature-related changes are not the only effect that climate change is predicted to have.