Global Environmental Change and Noncommunicable Disease Risks

Multiple global environmental changes (GECs) now under way, including climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, tropical deforestation, overexploitation of fisheries, ocean acidification, and soil degradation, have substantial, but still imperfectly understood, implications for human health. Noncommunicable diseases (NICDs) make a major contribution to the global burden of disease. Many of the driving forces responsible for GEC also influence NCD risk through a range of mechanisms. This article provides an overview of pathways linking GEC and NICDs, focusing on five pathways: (a) energy, air pollution, and climate change; (b) urbanization; (c) food, nutrition, and agriculture; (d) the deposition of persistent chemicals in the environment; and (c) biodiversity loss.