Perspectives and Challenges on Climate Change and its Effects on Water Quality and Health

Abstract

Climate change and its effects on water quality and health are an important problem which is challenging different aspects of our present day society. In this special issue, we have approached this problem area by gathering the perspectives of the leading scientists in this field of research. In this editorial, this subject is introduced from a dynamic system analysis perspective as a unifying point of view which is expanded on in several papers that are included in the special issue. Dynamic Systems and Climate Change As scientists specializing in the environmental health field, we are well aware of the fact that the components of the environmental systems we are working with are constantly changing and these changes produce significant impacts on the behavior of the overall system over the short and also the long term. Given the complexity this introduces, sometimes there is a tendency to treat environmental health systems as systems which are relatively simple as we consider only parts of the system and avoid looking at the broader picture. This approach limits the analysis of the overall system which is constantly responding to change (Friedman 2013). What is the cause of this complacency and what are the consequences especially in view of the more recent and critical topic of climate change and its effects on populations which is the