Interconnected

A Micro Gallery of Data Art on Planetary Health

Explore Sequentially By Scrolling Down ot Select the Piece You Want to Explore

Planetary Health: The Health of Humans and Our Environment are Intrinsically Interdependent

I • Weaved Together

II • The Planet Slumbers in Our Bodies

III • Orbs of Light

IV • Disappearing Time

V • Yes, Your Actions Count

Interconnected • I

Literature published between 2000 and September 2026 were queried to understand how many scientific studies had explored the connections between health conditions and environmental conditions.

669,726 connections were found. Hover over this interactive data wheel to see the different connections.

III

Interconnected • I I

From 7 peer-reviewed published studies, six environmental conditions' impacts on humans' biological systems were identified.

Each colored thread represents a biological system affected by an environmental condition. Explore the connections below!

III

Interconnected • III

There are about 8.3 billion people in the world.

Imagine our world as an orb of light. Each colored light particle = 200,000 people

Now each person affected by an environmental condition goes dark.

Our planetary population (41,500 lightparticles)

99% of the population affected by unsafe air pollution

Almost ubiquitously affected by microplastics

19% of the population affected by deforestation

ozone 40%

25% of the population affected by water stress

40% affected by ozone pollution

Interconnected • IV

Have you ever wondered how biodiversity intertwines with human life expectancy?

In fact, one unit less of rarefied bird richness has been associated with...

III

Interconnected • V

"Does what I do really matter?"

Yes it does.

Research has shown that the implementation of 17 simple actions, ranging from carpooling to using energy efficient appliances at home can... Scroll down to find out more

III

Data sources for all data art

I. Weaved Together

See PubMed sample queries on September 30 2026 here.

-------------------

II. The Planet Slumbers in Our Bodies

Urban trees:

Wolf, K. L., Lam, S. T., McKeen, J. K., Richardson, G. R. A., van den Bosch, M., & Bardekjian, A. C. (2020). Urban Trees and Human Health: A Scoping Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(12), 4371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124371

Ocean acidification:

Falkenberg, L. J., Bellerby, R. G. J., Connell, S. D., Fleming, L. E., Maycock, B., Russell, B. D., Sullivan, F. J., & Dupont, S. (2020). Ocean Acidification and Human Health. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(12), 4563. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124563

Ozone depletion:

Norval, M., Lucas, R. M., Cullen, A. P., De Gruijl, F. R., Longstreth, J., Takizawa, Y., & Van Der Leun, J. C. (2011). The human health effects of ozone depletion and interactions with climate change. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, 10(2), 199-225.

Plastic waste:

Abahussain, A. A. M., Nasr, F. A., Jumah, A. B., Saravanan, P., Siva Kumar, N., Al-Zharani, M., Guganathan, L., Sasikumar, G., Alsalamah, S. A., Qurtam, A. A., Senthilkumar, J., & Tamizhdurai, P. (2025). Toxic threats from plastic waste: human health impacts, challenges, and policy solutions. RSC advances, 15(48), 40761–40788. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ra05845g

Soil health:

1) Awosika, A., & Adeniyi, M. J. (2026). Soil health to human health: impacts of soil contaminants on cardio-neurological health and clinical outcomes: a narrative review. Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine, 13, 1647648. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2026.1647648

2) Durdu, B., Gurbuz, F., Koçyiğit, H., & Gurbuz, M. (2023). Urbanization-driven soil degradation; ecological risks and human health implications. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195(8), 1002.

Extreme weather:

1) Chu, L., Wang, P., Qiu, M., Abadi, A. M., & Chen, K. (2026). Extreme Weather Events and Their Health Impacts: International Variation. Annual review of public health, 47(1), 325–347. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090924-033314

2) Dewi, S. P., Kasim, R., Sutarsa, I. N., & Dykgraaf, S. H. (2024). A scoping review of the impact of extreme weather events on health outcomes and healthcare utilization in rural and remote areas. BMC health services research, 24(1), 1333. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11695-5

-------------------

III. Orbs of Light

Ozone pollution: Peck, D. (2026, September 29). Nearly 40% of global population exposed to dangerous ozone pollution in 2026: Report. ABC News. https://abcnews.com/US/40-global-population-exposed-dangerous-ozone-pollution-2026/story?id=136874316&

Deforestation: Conservation International. (n.d.). Deforestation facts. https://www.conservation.org/learning/deforestation-facts

Water stress: World Health Organization. (2023, September 13). Drinking-water. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water

Air pollution: World Health Organization. (n.d.). Air pollution data portal. Global Health Observatory. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/air-pollution

Microplastics:Loganathan, Y., & Kizhakedathil, M. P. J. (2023). A review on microplastics-an indelible ubiquitous pollutant. Biointerface Res. Appl. Chem, 13(2), 126.

-------------------

IV. Disappearing Time

Chen, Y., Zhao, P., Xu, Q., Qu, B., Li, D., & Clement, S. (2023). Relating biodiversity with health disparities of human population: An ecological study across the United States. One Health. 2023; 16: 100548.

-------------------

V. Yes, Your Actions Count

Dietz, T., Gardner, G. T., Gilligan, J., Stern, P. C., & Vandenbergh, M. P. (2009). Household actions can provide a behavioral wedge to rapidly reduce US carbon emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(44), 18452–18456. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0908738106