The human species faces a new kind of threat to its health - perhaps to its longer-term survival. Burgeoning numbers, consumption and the spread of technology are overloading Earth's capacity to replenish and repair itself. This eloquent and alarming book examines the likely impact on human health of the ongoing degradation of the planet's ecosystems. Where most studies of these phenomena have limited their analysis to the environmental consequences, A. J. McMichael brings a broader evolutionary, biological, social and economic perspective to bear on the ecological disruptions which threaten the wellbeing of our own species. 'A book to read now, for the twenty-first century.' The Lancet 'Everyone who is concerned about leaving a negative legacy to future generations should read this book.' Ecology