Death by Environment: The Boomerang Effect of Poor Environmental Policy

Source:IndexMundi Mike Magee The WHO released a report this week that suggested that nearly 1/4 of all human mortality (22.4%) in 2012 was secondary to unhealthy environments. We have known for some time that planetary health has an important impact on human health. It effects not only the quantity of years an average planetary citizen […]

“Wet-Bulb Temperature” – The Limits of Human Endurance and Chaos Ahead

Springfield Republican, Sept. 23, 1988 Mike Magee On September 23, 1988, I had my first experience with the pressures of a full blown press conference. I was the chief administrative physician at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Our governor, Michael Dukakis, was running for President of the United States, at the same time (as […]

Mother Nature, Moore’s Law, Globalization – and Health?

UNICEFUSA.org Mike Magee In the New York Times today, Thomas Friedman made the case that we are beginning to segregate nations worldwide into “worlds of order” versus “worlds of disorder”. In support of this comment, he presents the multi-border exodus from the Middle East to various nation’s of the European Union. This I know, is […]

The Planetary Patient “Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrDVzbeDzRk source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrDVzbeDzRk Mike Magee Hugh Jackman in 1998, in the film version of the Broadway classic, Oklahoma, sings “We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand….you’re doing fine Oklahoma, Oklahoma OK.” But as this week’s The New Yorker article, Weather Underground, suggests, not so much these days. Okie […]

Deconstructing Great Science and Technology Videos: 3 NYT Offerings.

Mike Magee This morning I was sipping my coffee as I reviewed the latest news in the New York Times on my iPad. And, of course, the Top News was depressing – ISIS, Ray Rice, Ebola and so on. So I found my way to the video section and looked around a bit. I ended […]

The Demilitarization of Homeland America: Lessons From Ferguson and WWII

DDT spaying beach area, 1950’s Mike Magee In tracking the events in Ferguson, Missouri, last week, I was reminded of the words of environmentalist, Edwin Way Teale, some 70 years ago, as WWII was drawing to a close. That war, and arguably the Allied success, was the result of our ability to mobilize and redirect […]

The Planetary Patient: A China Update

Eight years ago, I wrote about a range of ecological issues impacting water policy in China. It seemed as if unintended consequences were coming about at every turn. Two examples I mentioned at that time had to do with the Three Gorges Dam and the diversion of the Shiyang River. Most are still aware of […]