Fevered

by Marsa, Linda

• ISBN13: 9781605292014
• ISBN10: 160529201X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-08-06
• Publisher: Rodale Books

Summary

Beyond images of emaciated polar bears and drought-cracked lakes, there remains a major part of climate change's impact that the media has neglectedhow our health will suffer from higher temperatures and extreme weather. From spiraling rates of asthma and allergies and spikes in heatstroke-related deaths to swarms of invasive insects carrying diseases like dengue or West Nile and increases in heart and lung disease and cancer, the effect of rising temperatures on human health will be far-reaching, and is more imminent than we think. Growing scientific evidence shows climate change-induced health crises and the rising tide of natural disastershurricanes, floods, droughtswill strain the healthcare system beyond what it can support and shorten our life spans. Award-winning journalist Linda Marsa blends compelling narrative with cutting-edge science to explore the changes in Earth's increasingly fragile support system and provide a blueprinta "medical Manhattan Project"detailing what we need to do to protect ourselves from this imminent medical meltdown. In the tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Marsa sounds the alarm on a subject that has largely been ignored by governments and policy makers, and persuasively argues why preparedness for the health effects of climate change is the most critical issue affecting our survival in the coming century.

Author Biography

Linda Marsa is an investigative journalist and contributing editor at Discover who has covered medicine, health and science for more than two decades. A former Los Angeles Times reporter and author of Prescription for Profits: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Bankrolled the Unholy Marriage Between Science and Industry, her work was selected for the anthology The Best American Science Writing, 2012. She lives in Los Angeles.