Global Public Health Report: Planetary Boundaries, Food, and Climate

This report delves into the critical aspects of global public health, focusing on planetary boundaries and their implications for human health. It outlines the nine planetary boundaries, including stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biosphere integrity, chemical pollution, climate change, ocean acidification, freshwater consumption, land system change, nitrogen and phosphorus flow, and atmospheric aerosol loading, highlighting the boundaries that have been breached. The report emphasizes the impact of food production systems on these boundaries, proposing strategies for sustainable food transformation, such as adopting healthy diets, changing agricultural priorities, intensifying production, proper governance of land and oceans, and reducing food waste. Furthermore, it explores pollution, climate change, and biodiversity, detailing their pathways and impacts on health. The report also discusses climate resilient developmental pathways, stakeholder analysis, and sustainable healthcare practices, advocating for sustainable energy use, partnerships, and personal wellbeing to improve planetary health outcomes. The report synthesizes observation-based data and provides a comprehensive overview of the interconnectedness of environmental factors and public health.

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GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH
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Global Public Health
1. Planetary Boundaries
- Planetary boundaries are environmental boundaries within the earth system associated
with specific processes showing the limits within which humans can operate safely
(Steffen 2015).
- There are nine planetary boundaries outlined as follows.
i. Stratospheric ozone depletion – A reduction in this layer lead to an escalated level of UV
radiation. Humans will be at risk of skin cancer. To know whether we are within the safe
boundary’s safe operating space, the amount of UUV radiation reaching the earth is
measured.
ii. Loss of biosphere integrity – It refers to the ecosystem balance that does not permit
extinction and biodiversity loss. Extreme loss of biodiversity will impact the amount of
water, food, and natural resources. The threshold or safety boundary is determined by
measuring the amount of food, water, natural resource optimum for human survival
(Steffen 2015; Stockholm Resilience Center 2018).
iii. Chemical pollution and the release of novel entities – It represents the limit of synthetic
pollutants, radioactive, and mental substances released into the ecosystem. Pollutants are
lethal to human health. The threshold or safety boundary is measured by determining the
level of pollution for each element.
iv. Climate change – It is the climatic change originating from the accelerated increase of
carbon in the atmosphere. Climate change affects the ecosystem balance paving the way
for health risk factors. The threshold or safety boundary is measured by examining
different aspects of climatic factors.

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v. Ocean acidification – It is the PH of the surface waters. Increased acidity of surface
water impacts the marine ecosystem that subsequently affects natural resources, which
increases health risk factors. The threshold or safety boundary is determined by
measuring the PH of surface water.
vi. Freshwater consumption and the global hydrological cycle – It represent the optimum
freshwater availability for consumption. Imbalance in the hydrological cycle affects
climate, which increases risk factors associated with human health. The threshold or
safety boundary is determined by assessing the global hydrological cycle.
vii. Land system change – It refers to the shifting percentage of land under forest, wetlands,
grasslands, and other vegetation. Changes in land system change alter the biochemical
balance of carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen, which could lead to human health risk
factors. The threshold or safety boundary is determined by measuring the changes in the
size of land under forest, wetlands, grasslands, and other vegetation.
viii. Nitrogen and phosphorus flow to the biosphere and oceans – It refers to the existing
balance associated with biochemical cycles of phosphorus and nitrogen. Extreme
changes in biochemical cycles of phosphorus and nitrogen expose humans to disease risk
factors. The threshold or safety boundary is determined by assessing each biochemical
cycle.
ix. Atmospheric aerosol loading – It represents the limits to which the earth could sustain
aerosols emission to the climate. Aerosols are part of the pollution agents affecting the
climate, respiration among living organisms, and radiation permeability. The threshold
or safety boundary is determined by a combined assessment with other
chlorofluorocarbons.

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Four out of nine boundaries have been breached, which include climate change, land
system change, loss of biosphere integrity, and altered biochemical cycles. This implies that
humans are already exposed to a significant number of risk factors (Stockholm Resilience Center
2018).
Planetary health is the human health amid civilization and its dependence on the natural
system.
Planetary health depends on the maintenance of planetary boundaries.
2. Food
Climate change, land system change, loss of biosphere integrity, and altered biochemical
cycles planetary boundaries are highly affected by current food production systems.
Food production should resort to organic and safe methods for the earth to stay within the
safe operating space for food systems.
Five Great Food Transformation strategies include;
i. Adopting both national and international commitment to transform into healthy
diets
ii. Changing agriculture priorities from quantity to quality
iii. Intensifying production
iv. Proper governance of land and oceans
v. Reduce food wastes and loss
Intensified production could be achieved through the use of greenhouses.

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EAT-Lancet Commission considers organic production as sustainable.
High consumption of meat affects the loss of biosphere integrity and altered biochemical
cycles planetary boundaries because there it is associated with a high level of waste and
reduction in specific animal species.
According to EAT-Lancet Commission, we should not choose between forest and food.
Stakeholder analysis is the assessment of roles and contributions of each stakeholder
involved in or affected by strategic changes. It is used to reach a multifaceted decision or change.
3. Pollution
Pollution is the emission or release of contaminants into the environment. Chemical
pollution and the release of novel entities is a planetary boundary considered as pollution.
4. Climate
Climate change is variations in weather patterns and is caused by global warming. GHGs
leads to increased temperature and can be seen by the melting of ice in polar climates. Increased
temperature lead to increased climate reversal changes and depletion of ozone layer leading to
increased poor health risk factors. There has been a one and a half degrees warming increase
since preindustrial era (IPCC 2018).
Climates change pathway;
i. Radiation pathway: the primary cause of skin cancer
ii. Carbon emission pathway: causes global warming leading to changes that
increasing health risks
iii. Stylized pathways: affects biodiversity thereby increasing health risks

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Climate resilient developmental pathways (CRDPs);
i. Adaptation
ii. Mitigation
iii. Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a CRDP that could be used improve planetary health outcomes
according to my context.
The exposure pathways include;
i. Radiation
ii. Water
iii. Sunlight
iv. Air
v. Food
vi. Land use
vii. Exposure to chemicals
Shared socioeconomic pathways for climate change response;
i. Controlling fossil fuel development
ii. Mitigating regional rivalry
iii. Focusing on sustainable development (Sellers and Ebi 2017).
iv. Alleviating inequality

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5. Biodiversity
Biological diversity is the existence of numerous specifies of living organisms in a self-
supporting ecosystem. Biosphere integrity is the maintenance of the natural balance defining
biodiversity. Biodiversity loss is the extinction characterizing specific species of living
organisms. Changes in biodiversity alters the ecosystem balance, which paves the way to
healthcare risks factors.
Three ways in which human health and biological diversity relate include;
i. Biological diversity regulates the climate
ii. Food and fresh water come from biological diversity interaction
iii. Biological diversity offers recreational and aesthetic enrichment
The ecosystem services will no longer be able to meet human health needs when there is
increased biodiversity loss.
Therefore, the right nature is the maintenance of the natural ecosystem balance. These
perspectives can be synthesized.
Observation-based data is advantageous because it captures all the details observed;
however, it is limited and vulnerable to observer’s prejudice and bias.
6. Healthcare
Planetary boundaries define specific limits, which when exceeded, the human race is
exposed to several risks that could lead to adverse healthcare outcomes. Sustainable healthcare
practices include;

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i. Advocating for sustainable use of energy, water, and infrastructure, which could
be achieved through efficient use or resources.
ii. Incorporating partnership in healthcare implementations, which could be achieved
through proper stakeholder analysis.
iii. Advocating for personal wellbeing, which could be achieved through education
and community sensitization.

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References
IPCC. (2018). Summary for Policymakers. In: Global warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special
Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global
greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the
threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. Available at:
https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf [Accessed 6 April 2020]
Steffen, W. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet.
Available at: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/1259855 [Accessed 6 April 2020]
Sellers, S., and Ebi, K. L. (2017). Climate Change and Health under the Shared Socioeconomic
Pathway Framework. International journal of environmental research and public health, Vol.
15, Iss. 1, p. 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15010003 [Accessed 6 April 2020]
Stockholm Resilience Center. (2018). The nine planetary boundaries. Available at:
https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries/planetary-boundaries/about-
the-research/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html [Accessed 6 April 2020]