From stronger heat waves to new vectors for disease transmission to worsening freshwater pollution, the health threats associated with environmental degradation are vast, according to the United Nations’ sixth Global Environment Outlook.

The report, released on March 4, says that millions of people are expected to die prematurely as the environment declines, and the world’s poorest populations will be the most negatively affected.

“The science is clear. The health and prosperity of humanity are directly tied to the state of our environment,” Joyce Msuya, acting executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said in the report’s press release. “We are at a crossroads. Do we continue on our current path, which will lead to a bleak future for humankind, or pivot to sustainable development?”

The global environment is deteriorating in a number of ways. The UN notes that resource extraction has more than tripled over the past 50 years, which has driven more than 90% of the planet’s biodiversity loss. Various forms of pollution — from industrial plants dumping toxins into local environments to countries releasing plastic into bodies of water — are corroding the health of ecosystems, which leads to various health complications in humans.

And climate change is causing environmental shifts that can undermine public health.

The health risks associated with the worsening environment can be broken down into three categories, according to Jeffrey Shaman, director of the climate health program at Columbia University: direct consequences, indirect consequences, and complex health risks.

Read the full article about the declining environment by Joe McCarthy at Global Citizen.