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HERO ID
8341108
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Climate Change, Human Health, and Social Stability: Addressing Interlinkages
Author(s)
Sellers, S; Ebi, KL; Hess, J
Year
2019
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Environmental Health Perspectives
ISSN:
0091-6765
EISSN:
1552-9924
Volume
127
Issue
4
Page Numbers
45002
Language
English
PMID
30986089
DOI
10.1289/EHP4534
Web of Science Id
WOS:000467131100015
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Abundant historical evidence demonstrates how environmental changes can affect social stability and, in turn, human health. A rapidly growing body of literature, largely from political science and economics, is examining the potential for and consequences associated with social instability related to current climate change. However, comparatively little of this research incorporates the effects on human health or the role of health systems in influencing the magnitude and types of instability that could occur.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this commentary is to articulate a conceptual framework incorporating health outcomes and health systems into theorized and observed linkages between climate change and social instability, illustrating in particular the health effects of natural resource shortages, infectious disease outbreaks, and migration.
DISCUSSION:
Although increasing evidence exists that climate change, health, and social instability are related, key questions remain about the pathways linking these factors, as well as the magnitude, causality, and directionality of relationships across spatial and temporal scales. Models seeking to explain and predict climate-related social unrest should incorporate the many linkages between climate change, human health, and social instability. Members of the environmental health research community should work closely with those in the political science and economics communities to help deepen understandings of climate-related stressors and shocks that affect instability and worsen health outcomes. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4534.
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