The Planetary Patient

Mike Magee In 2005, I published a book called Healthy Waters in an attempt to raise environmental health and the deteriorating “planetary patient” as a pressing health care issue. My efforts were only modestly successful. Chapter 8 in the book was titled “Natural Water Disasters” and summarized the costs in human life and fortune as […]

Why Do Health Professionals and Their Schools Ignore The Planetary Patient?

Mike Magee If health is defined today as the capacity to reach one’s full human potential, our environment – including the quality and availability of water, air, soil, and plant and animal life – are critical determinants of human health. For too long health professionals have considered the planetary patient as beyond their domain. In reality, […]

Could Optimizing The Carbon Sink Offer Immediate Short-Term Relief?

Source: NOAA Video Carbon in Action Mike Magee OK. Let’s just all admit it. Al Gore was right – even if the truth was inconvenient at the time. For most of the civilized world, the present day truth is not only inconvenient, but also incontrovertible, inconceivable (in its potential destructive effects), and increasingly (almost) inevitable. […]

Global Warming. What Is The Physician’s Responsibility?

NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory High Resolution Image with more information about the graphic Mike Magee In 1997, Gro Brundtland, then head of the WHO defined health as “human potential”. In doing so, she broadened the sphere of interest of health policy experts on a macro level and challenged physicians on a micro level. In […]

Progress Post-Election: Child’s Play

Mike Magee With the election behind us, the question is, “What happens now?” The consensus on “Morning Joe” this morning (from both sides of the aisle) was that there was an opportunity now to compromise and collaborate to address the deficit as well as giant issues like Medicare, our infrastructure and climate policy. But how […]

What’s With The Mosquitos?

Mike Magee Last week I woke up in the middle of the night itching my arm and my ankles. My first reaction was “I must have gotten into poison something”. But the next morning it was clear – mosquito bites. It turns out other family members in other states were having the same problem, which […]

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