Fevered Planet: How Diseases Emerge When We Harm Nature

by John Vidal

A timely and urgent investigation from John Vidal, Environment Editor of the Guardian for nearly thirty years, into how the destruction of nature is releasing disease into our societies

'Urgent, fascinating and essential' GEORGE MONBIOT
'A searing, vital work' BETTANY HUGHES

Covid-19, mpox, bird flu, SARS, HIV, AIDS, Ebola; we are living in the Age of Pandemics – one that we have created. As the climate crisis reaches a fever pitch and ecological destruction continues unabated, we are just beginning to reckon with the effects of environmental collapse on our global health.

Fevered Planet exposes how the way we farm, what we eat, the places we travel to and the scientific experiments we conduct create the perfect conditions for deadly new diseases to emerge and spread faster and further than ever. Drawing on the latest scientific research and decades of reporting from more than 100 countries, former Guardian environment editor John Vidal takes us into deep, disappearing forests in Gabon and the Congo, valleys scorched by wildfire near Lake Tahoe and our densest, polluted cities to show how closely human, animal and plant diseases are now intertwined with planetary destruction. He calls for an urgent transformation in our relationship with the natural world, and expertly outlines how to make that change possible.

Genres: Environment, Biology, Popular Science, Nonfiction, Science

398 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2023

About the author

John Vidal is the Guardian's environment editor. He joined the paper in 1995 after working for Agence France Presse, North Wales Newspapers and the Cumberland News. He is the author of McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial (1998) and has contributed chapters to books on topics such as the Gulf war, new Europe and development

Reviews

[Arndis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Úff það er alveg svolítið erfitt að koma hugsun minni um þessa bók yfir í orð. Hún hræddi alveg úr mér líftóruna. Ég er bæði orðin mjög stressuð fyrir komandi árum og tímum hjá okkur mönnunum og ég er líka að pæla í því að hætta að borða kjúkling! Ég hafði enga hugmynd um hversu fáránlega margir sjúkdómar koma upp í hæsnabúum út um allan heim. Miklu, miklu meira en við sjáum hérna á Íslandi!

Ég þurfti að leggja þessa bók frá mér oft af því ég var komin með hausverk á að hugsa of mikið út í gráu framtíðina okkar. Ef framtíðarplágur og faraldrar eru ekki farnir að hræða þig, lestu þessa bók. Hún lagar það.

Út frá akademískum pælingum þá er heimildavinnan og sannsöguskrifin alveg hreint frábær! Textinn er persónulegur en samt ekki um of og höfundur passar vel að útskýra um hvað hann er að tala og hvers vegna það sé mikilvægt. Þetta er mögnuð rannsókn sem John Vidal hefur mjög greinilega unnið að meiri hluta lífs síns. Ég þakka honum innilega fyrir það og að fræða mig um allt sem ég vissi ekki varðandi faraldra. Einnig spratt upp forvitni hjá mér um alls kyns sjúkdóma sem ég hef verið að skoða síðan þeir voru nefndir.

[Sophie Els · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling, eye-opening, started a surprisingly deep (and no doubt disturbing to everyone around us) conversation with a woman who sat next to me on the plane. I don't know that any of us are prepared for the cycle of pandemics we're likely to be living through in the coming decades. If you aren't already scared of avian flu, you should be!

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

‘The Fevered World’ is a terrifying masterpiece of investigative journalism that serves as both a warning siren and a detailed map of our potential pandemic future. With meticulous research and urgent prose, Vidal connects the dots between climate change, habitat destruction, and the increasing likelihood of devastating disease outbreaks.

Pros:
- Meticulously researched
- Clear connection between climate crisis and disease
- Well thought out examples throughout
- Compelling scientific evidence
- Accessible

Cons:
- May induce severe anxiety
- Solutions section feels brief compared to problems
- Some readers might find it overwhelming
- Could trigger pandemic-related trauma

‘The Fevered World’ is not for the faint of heart, but absolutely necessary reading for understanding one of the greatest threats we face.

Note to self: please stop reading environmental based books, it’s just too depressing (and no rewatching Threads either- I know you’re tempted).

[A C · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cohesive account of the interconnectedness between human, animal, and planetary health, written by someone with a fevered interest in a better future that poisedly induces a sense of urgency about the state of our world.

[Jenny Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, well researched, a lifetime of work put into this. Very thought provoking and informative. RIP John

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but I kinda wanted more detail or some narrative thrust. It was basically just “someone got sick… and the culprit? Ecological damage!” over and over again.