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The potential
health impacts of climate variability and change are wide-ranging, from direct impacts at
familiar local scales, through indirect effects occurring at the regional or ecosystem
level, to long-term effects on the sustainability of global systems. The direct effects
of global climate change are amenable to assessment by conventional methods, but are
likely to be of relatively minor public health significance. In contrast, the potential
indirect effects of climate change are less amenable to reductionist methods, but will
almost certainly be of greater public health significance. At the global scale,
interactions and feedbacks between systems are critical determinants of long-term
outcomes. |
