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Climate, Ethics and Human Health
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:38:12
Abstract
The course explores climate change and environmental ethics in relation to human health. Topics include climate, weather, and environmental biotechnology's relationship to issues like antibiotic resistance, vector-borne diseases, and unhealthy landscapes, all influenced by climate change and social disparities. Public policy issues in the face of climate-related health challenges are also covered.
Objective
This course aims to provide students with a foundation of knowledge about climate change and its implications for human health, using principles from the disciplines of environmental ethics and bioethics. Students will gain familiarity with current relevant topics ranging from geoengineering and vector borne disease, to food security and unhealth landscapes (‘riskscapes.’), concluding with a survey of relevant public policy initiatives and ethical duties. This course is offered to all D-HEST students who wish to learn more about the interaction of the environment and climate change with human health, and the ethical and policy considerations surrounding this topic. The course can also be attended in fulfilment of the required ethics training for doctoral students in our department. As of next year, we can consider offering it as a Science in Perspective course. The specific learning objectives of this course are the following: •Demonstrate a basic understanding of the science of climate change •Describe related topics, such as climate change denial, that contribute to our individual and societal approach and understanding of climate science •Discuss the basic principles of environmental ethics addressing the relationship between human beings and our environment, including topics of the Anthropocene, Wilderness, ecology, and the value of nature •Describe ways in which the changing climate affects human health, through events such as excessive heat, flooding, wildfires, severe storms, drought •Summarize the basic concepts of the One Health initiative, and our understanding of how climate change affects areas such as maternal and child health and global health, and urban environments and green space, with attention to social determinants of health •Explain the principles of bioethics that speak to human health and the climate crisis •Apply bioethical concepts to critical thinking about balancing costs and benefits in climate change planning, and making decisions that protect the health of vulnerable groups and promote health equity •Discuss examples of environmental biotechnology that interact with climate change and human health (primarily geoengineering, vector borne disease, and antibiotic resistance) •Discuss how the changing climate interacts with food security and unhealthy landscapes or ‘riskscapes’ •Explain the role of public policy in addressing the effects of the changing climate on health, including the potential role of citizen science in this area •In light of the course content, describe our ethical duties regarding the environment and the health of human beings
Content
The course offers students a survey of key topics surrounding the relationship between the changing climate and the health of human beings. This is achieved using principles and perspectives from the disciplines of bioethics and environmental ethics, with consideration to climate policy and societal implications. The course begins with an introduction to the fundamental scientific concepts of climate change, and related topics such as climate change denial. Next the course will provide an introduction to the discipline of environmental ethics, including topics such as the value of nature, Wilderness, and the Anthropocene, as a background of scholarship about how humans conceive of the environment and form beliefs that can be consequential for their actions. Once this foundation is established, students will move on to examine the interaction between climate change and human health. Students will be introduced to the impact of climate change on the physical and mental health of human beings, due to realities such as increasing temperatures, flooding, wildfire, and more unpredictable storms or drought. The course proceeds to examine contributions from the discipline of bioethics to the area of climate change and human health, and the need for ethical reasoning in questions of the relationship between human beings and the rest of the natural world. Throughout the content of the course, consideration will be given to the realities of structural injustice, and how we have built our society in ways that disadvantage certain groups of people, often those who are more vulnerable to begin with. Inherent in this discussion is an understanding of the social determinants of health, factors such as education, neighbourhood, income, and employment, which greatly influence health outcomes. In the next section, the course presents current topics from the area of environmental biotechnology that are relevant for human health, such as geoengineering, vector borne disease, and antibiotic resistance. Also in this section, students will explore the topics of food security and unhealthy landscapes, or ‘riskscapes’, and related questions of health equity. In conclusion, the course explores public policies and ethical duties emerging from the content thus far. Students will be presented with examples of public policy addressing the causes and effects of climate change, including policies designed for mitigation and adaptation, as well as citizen science initiatives. Climate change is the reality that we all live in now. Through this course, we hope to help students investigate the connections between climate change and human health, and the values and ethical principles underlying how we understand this and respond, as individuals and as a society.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
- Max Places
- 100
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise | Climate, Ethics and Human Health |
|
2 h weekly |