Fevered Planet

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.

About the Author

John Vidal was born and brought up in West Africa. One of the world's most experienced environment journalists, he has worked for over 30 years on the frontlines of the global war against nature. As environment editor of the Guardian he has reported on the climate crisis, disease and ecological change from more than 100 countries, during which time he has been attacked by loggers and farmers, imprisoned by whalers and sued by oil and chemical companies. Vidal has won many national and international awards for his writing and film-making. He is the author of one previous book and has contributed chapters to books on war, famine and conservation.