BMJ 1999;318:1682-1685 ( 19 June )

Education and debate

Climate change and human health in Europe

Editorials by Brundtland and Pershagen

R Sari Kovats, research fellow ^a,  Andrew Haines, professor of primary care ^b,  Rosalind Stanwell-Smith, consultant epidemiologist ^c,  Pim Martens, senior environmental health scientist ^d,  Bettina Menne, associate professional officer in public health ^e,  Roberto Bertollini, director ^e. 

^a Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, ^b Royal Free and University College London Medical School, London NW3 2PF, ^c Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, London NW9 5EQ, ^d International Centre for Integrative Studies, University of Maastricht, PO Box 616, 6200MD Maastricht, Netherlands, ^e World Health Organisation European Centre for Environment and Health, I-00187 Italy

Correspondence to: R S Kovats s.kovats@lshtm.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Evidence that our world is warming has become stronger in recent years. Scientists have now confirmed that these changes are due to human activities.¹ This century the average annual temperature in most of Europe has increased by about 0.8°C.² Warming has been particularly great during the past two decades and in the middle to high latitudes (fig 1). In the Alps, temperature increases have exceeded 1°C above the long term mean. Northern Europe has become wetter, but a region encompassing the Mediterranean and central Europe has become significantly drier.² Scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast a 1°C-3.5°C increase in average global temperature by 2100.¹ Although there is considerable uncertainty in forecasting regional and local changes in climate in Europe, it is likely that these observed trends will continue.²

The potential impact of a global climate change on human health has been identified as a priority for . . . [Full text of this article]

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