Expert answer:Chapter 11 attached below Part 2: After reading Chapter 11 on Environmental wellness and gaining an understanding of the greenhouse effect and global climate change think about the potential impact of global warming.Please use the link provided (Global climate change-vital signs of the planet) or click here Global Climate Change-Vital Signs of the planet to help you with your research. Link: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ You may also use other reputable online resources.Think about how the world’s climate could change over the next 100 years if humans do nothing to limit the levels of their greenhouse gas emissions. Make predictions about the effects such climate changes could have on humans. Please list your predictions below of what could happen in the next 100 years and about the effects such climate changes could have on humans. Please list no more than 5-10 areas that you learned about in your research.Part 3:Now that you have explored a variety of perspectives on global climate change. Choose one of the predictions you listed in Part 2 and take a position on the issue and support it with data from your research. Write 2-3 persuasive paragraphs to answer the following questions:In your opinion, is (your choice of prediction from Part 2) an imminent world threat? Why or why not? Based on your opinion, what actions do you believe should be taken to address (your choice of prediction Part 2)?
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CHAP TER
11
Environmental Health
Source: Deglr6328. 2005. Adaptation of NASA. The blue marble. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Blue_Marble.jpg. 1972.
In many ways, environmental health is a fitting conclusion to this text. The subject has already come up repeatedly.
In truth, your health is not just a personal issue. Beginning in Chapter 1 you learned that lifestyle and environmental
factors have a much greater influence on your health and longevity than genetics. That theme recurred in all the
chapters on major diseases (infectious diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer). You learned how your
social environment and the safety of your neighborhood influence health. Family planning, discussed in Chapter
10 has a profound effect on the environment—a concept we’ll expand upon in this chapter. Chapter 3 examined
the environmental impact of agriculture and individual food choices. In [Content Removed: #white_1.0-ch13] you
learned that your body forms an ecosystem, a complex system of interacting organisms and their physical
environment. In this chapter, you’ll learn how our behaviors impact broader ecosystems and how those ecosystems
affect our health.
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302
HEALTH NOW VERSION 2.0.4
The global environment affects us all. The news media are full of ominous reports:
<
2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record[1]
<
World's Largest Ice Sheets Melting at Fastest Rate Ever Recorded[2]
<
Human-Caused Global Warming Contributed to Weather Extremes[3]
<
Researchers Link Syrian Conflict to a Drought Made Worse by Climate Change[4]
<
Coral Bleaching Threatening Reefs in Northern Pacific Due to Global Warming[5]
<
Climate Change Threatens Half of America's Bird Species [6]
This chapter will explore the influence of the local and global environment on human health. It will also address the
power of humans, collectively and individually, to affect the environment and the steps you can take now to
improve planetary health.
In nature nothing exists alone.
- Rachel Carson, scientist, environmentalist, and author of Silent Spring
1. HUMANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
L E A R N I N G
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
environment
External surroundings,
including living and nonliving
things.
O B J E C T I V E S
Explain the reciprocal interaction between humans and the environment.
Define environmental health.
Discuss the relevance of population growth to environmental health.
Review common air and water pollutants and discuss ways to reduce your exposure.
Discuss the ways individuals can reduce solid waste.
Understand the impact of artificial lighting and excessive noise on health.
A reciprocal relationship exists between you and your environment—your external surroundings—both living and nonliving. Your actions can dramatically affect the health of the environment.
Likewise, the environment profoundly affects your health. We can’t live without oxygen, water, and soil
rich enough to grow plants and graze animals. The earth provides a host of resources that we use for
food, building materials, and the energy to light and heat our homes and power our machines.
The environment separates into two main components. The natural environment refers to areas
and ecosystems that existed before human influence. The ever-growing human population affects that
natural environment in many ways, from encroaching on wilderness areas and wildlife habitat to changing the chemistry of air and water. In contrast, the built environment refers to manmade structures
such as buildings, parks, transportation systems, and energy networks.
Another categorical division is the local and the global environment. You fit into a local ecosystem
that includes the built and natural environments. As you’ve learned in earlier chapters, a number of
local environmental factors affect your health and well-being: social relationships; neighborhood safety;
access to parks and recreation centers; and the quality of the food, water, soil, and air you breathe. You
can even examine the environment you inhabit on a smaller scale—your living space. You can control
some aspects of your personal environment, such as lighting, heating, sounds, smells, textures, and
sights. You create positive environmental changes by putting a potted plant on the windowsill, hanging
art on the walls, and playing peaceful music. Light a cigarette and you fill the air with toxic chemicals.
Our local environments contribute to the global environment, which affects us all. For example, air
pollutants from Europe and Asia create a perceivable haze over the Arctic.[7] Our actions affect not only
the health of people halfway across the globe but also the health of future generations.
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CHAPTER 11
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
303
As a species, humans have had an enormous impact on the planet. For centuries, we have controlled and exploited the natural world in order to grow crops, build cities, extract natural resources,
manufacture goods, and live as safely and as comfortably as possible.
Yet Homo sapiens is one of many species occupying the earth. Our actions have altered multiple
ecosystems, often in ways that ultimately harm us. For instance, we have cut and burned entire forests
to create agricultural fields, pasture land, golf courses, and housing tracts.
Deforestation (loss of forest cover) has many adverse effects. Among their functions, forests
provide habitats for diverse species, filter the water (making it cleaner to drink), retain precipitation,
stabilize the ground to prevent erosion, stabilize snow to inhibit avalanches, provide building materials
and medicinal plants, offer shade and wind blocks, and take up atmospheric carbon dioxide. (Later,
we’ll discuss the role of carbon dioxide in global warming.) As one example of the impact on human
health, removal of trees creates the right mix of sunlight, warmth, and puddles for mosquito breeding.
In the Amazon, a 4 percent increase in deforestation led to a 50 percent rise in malaria.[8]
On a positive note, collective awareness about the relationship between our actions and human
and planetary health has steadily climbed.
Deforestation
The removal of a forest or
stand of trees.
1.1 The Evolution of Environmentalism
While healers have long recognized that our environments affect our health, it took some time for society to recognize that human activities often degrade the natural environment, which, in turn, damages
human health. The story begins with infectious microorganisms. Ancient physician Hippocrates broke
ranks with contemporaries by proposing that environmental factors—as opposed to angry
gods—caused illness. Much later, in the 1880s, scientists such as Robert Koch linked microbes to infectious illnesses.
Public health initiatives led to safe drinking water, sewage treatment, and the organized disposal of
garbage, including hazardous wastes. Such programs to curb infectious diseases marked the beginning
of environmental health, a discipline devoted to addressing the many external factors that can potentially affect health.[9] Initial efforts to prevent the spread of infectious disease expanded to the protection of air, water, and soil from physical, biological, and chemical pollutants and toxins.
The need to more broadly protect the environment arose with increasing migration from the
countryside to cities. Denser populations intensified the challenge of providing clean water and sanitation. Rivers passing through cities became rank with sewage run-off. Smoke from wood and coal fires
thickened the air with soot. Burning coal emitted sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, both of which react with atmospheric water and other chemicals to form acid rain.[10] The acids fell to the ground as
fog, mist, rain, and snow. They became incorporated into dust or smoke, settling onto soil, buildings,
and plants and contributing to deforestation.
Efforts to regulate air pollution occurred as far back as 1306 in London.[11] Around 1760, the Industrial Revolution began in that city, increasing the release of pollutants into water and air. Smog, a
combination of fog and chemical-laden smoke, blanketed the city. In December 1952, poor air quality
led to 4,000 premature deaths, most of them due to respiratory and cardiovascular disease and most of
them affecting the elderly.[12]
Industrialization radically increased use of natural resources such as water (used as a source of
power), minerals (iron, asbestos, aluminum, stone, sand, lead, and mercury) and fossil fuels (coal, oil,
and natural gas). Fossil fuels are those formed millions of years ago as prehistoric plants and animals
became compressed under layers of earth. Because it takes so long to make them, fossil fuels are not renewable (easily replenished).
Furthermore, mining of minerals dramatically altered the landscape and introduced toxic industrial metals into the environment. Mercury, asbestos, and lead are prime examples. In 19th-century England, hats were made from felt (condensed wool), whose production involved mercury. Mercury damages the nervous system, including the brain—hence the expression “As mad as a hatter.”[13] Asbestos
fibers—used in insulation, drywall, concrete, bricks, and pipes—are easily inhaled, leading to lung cancer and other chronic chest diseases. Lead—used in metal alloys, bullets, batteries, ceramic glazes, cosmetics, and paint—damages many body systems, particularly the nervous system.
Industrialization did facilitate the growth of the middle class and a corresponding rise in living
standards. However, increased prosperity correlates with increased consumption of goods, most of
which use natural resources. Improvements in agriculture increased food production, which allowed
the population to swell and further taxed natural resources.
In the mid-1900s, the Green Revolution radically increased food production through the use of
mechanized farm equipment, improved crop varieties and irrigation techniques, pesticides (substances
that destroy organisms such as insects, undesirable plants, and fungi), and synthetic fertilizer. Unfortunately, pesticides and fertilizers added to the pollution problem. For example, the pesticide DDT
© 2013 Flat World Knowledge, Inc. All rights reserved.
environmental health
A discipline that addresses
the many external factors
that can potentially affect
health.
acid rain
The deposition of
atmospheric sulfur and nitric
acids as precipitation or in dry
form (smoke or dust).
Smog
Fog thickened and darkened
by air pollution.
fossil fuels
Energy resources derived
from ancient plants and
animals compressed in the
ground for millions of years.
They include oil (petroleum),
natural gas, and coal.
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304
FIGURE 11.1
London during the Great
Smog of 1952
Source: Stobbs NT. Nelson’s column
in December.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Nelson's_Column_during
_the_Great_Smog_of_1952.jpg. 1952.
HEALTH NOW VERSION 2.0.4
effectively controlled crop insects, as well as malaria and typhus. However, it also caused cancer and
killed marine organisms (crayfish, shrimp, fish).[14] Because it thinned eggshells, many bird species became unable to successfully reproduce.
In her 1962 book Silent Spring (which refers to a spring without birdsong), marine biologist Rachel
Carson made the connection between this environmental devastation and DDT, as well as other pesticides. Her work inspired the environmental movement. She moved beyond ecology (the study of the
relationship between organisms and their environment) and conservationism (the preservation of the
natural environment) to environmentalism. Environmentalism extended beyond valuing the natural
environment to regulating potential threats and disciplining polluters.
Environmental stewardship holds that humans have some obligation to preserve and protect natural settings. Motivations for doing so vary. Healthy ecosystems provide us with fertile agricultural soil,
pollination (by insects and birds), and clean water and air.[15] In addition, nature has its own inherent
worth, whether or not humans enjoy it or benefit from it. Proponents of that viewpoint believe we
should protect plant and animal species, regardless of their apparent human value. Furthermore many
people want future generations to inherit a world that retains some natural beauty and natural
resources.
This evolution in attitudes has led to the creation of a number of nonprofit organizations and government agencies focused on the environment. In 1970, the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) was established.[16] The EPA’s function is to research, monitor, set standards, and enforce regulations to protect the environment. April 22 of that same year marked the first Earth Day, a worldwide
event intended to heighten awareness of environmental issues.[17]
Later in this chapter, we’ll review the many ways of protecting the environment by conserving natural resources, reducing pollution and waste, improving energy efficiency, and developing “clean” energy resources.
Nature and Human Health
In addition to their intrinsic value, natural landscapes do us good. However, Americans have become indoor
creatures. The trend toward dwindling outdoor time motivated journalist Richard Louv to write the 2005 book
Last Child in the Woods, which became a New York Times best seller and received an Audubon Medal. In it, he
describes the consequences of “nature-deficit disorder”: diminished creativity, overweight and obesity, attention deficit disorder, and depression.
Sedentary, indoor lifestyles are linked to adult chronic ailments such as cardiovascular disease as well as chronic childhood conditions such as obesity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, asthma, diabetes, and vitamin
D deficiency.[18]
Spending time outdoors improves health. A Canadian study showed that people who lived in greener neighborhoods got more exercise.[19] A study in children found that physical activity rose by 20 to 27 minutes a
week for each additional hour spent outside.[20] Furthermore, more outdoor time correlates with lower body
weight and less television viewing.[21]
Natural settings help relax us, relieve stress, stimulate the senses, reduce mental fatigue after prolonged concentration, and improve attention.[22] People with access to green spaces are less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.[23] They also live longer.[24]
Fortunately, a number of organizations are working to increase children’s outdoor time.[25] Louv cofounded
the Children and Nature Network (http://www.childrenandnature.org), which works with health care providers, researchers, educators, organizations, and individual to get kids outdoors. Adults haven’t been left out
of this movement. Doctors are starting to prescribe outdoor activity as a means to maintain health, prevent
disease, and reduce the impact of chronic conditions.
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CHAPTER 11
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FIGURE 11.2 World Population Growth
This United States Census Bureau graph depicts world population from 1950 to 2050.
Source: US Census Bureau, International Data Base. World population: 1950–2050. 2012. http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/
worldpopgraph.php.
1.2 Overpopulation: The Crux of the Problem
Overpopulation is the driving force behind environmental degradation. In the beginning, the human
population grew at a slow rate. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle kept the population in check. In 1650,
about half a billion humans walked the planet. Public health improvements, medical advances, and revolutions in agriculture and industry increased life expectancy. Between 1800 and 1930, the population
doubled from 1 to 2 billion.[26] By 1975—a mere forty-five years later—the population had again
doubled.
In October 2011, world population passed the 7 billion mark[27] and continues to swell at a rate of
200,000 people each day.[28] By 2050, over 9 billion people may crowd the planet.[29] The most rapid
development is concentrated in the poorest countries.
Population growth is a function of birth rates and death rates. If birth rates rise and/or death rates
fall, the population grows. If both occur, there will be more people and they will live longer. Crowding
leads to competition for land and water, typically at the expense of other species. Feeding and housing
an increased population leads to deforestation and overfished rivers and oceans. Development pollutes
air, water, and soil and consumes nonrenewable resources. Furthermore, overpopulation increases the
risk of infectious diseases and deepens conditions of poverty and disadvantage.
In short, overpopulation stresses the planet. In most ecosystems, populations control themselves.
When resources become overtaxed, species that depend on them die. Remove wolves and the deer population swells—until food shortages cause some animals to starve. Given that humans have the power
to limit their fertility, we have other options than famine, thirst, and war to control our numbers.
However, fertility rates lower than the "replacement" rate can also create social and economic
problems, in mostly in developed countries, where smaller working-age populations cannot support
the economy and meet the demands for social programs to care for the growing ranks of the elderly.[30]
Population growth depends on several factors:
1. Childhood mortality. In the developing world, parents often have more children, out of concern
that some may die. The motivation is to have enough offspring to work the fields and care for the
older generation. Many children in these countries die before age 5, mainly from infectious
illnesses.[31] Improvements in sanitation and hygiene, access to medical care and vaccinations,
and other factors have allowed more children to survive to adulthood. As child mortality rates
decline, parents may choose to have smaller families.
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HEALTH NOW VERSION 2.0.4
2. Education. The most rapid population growth occurs in poor countries where largely uneducated
girls marry and begin bearing children in adolescence.[32] Education increases a woman’s social
status and earning power, allowing her to postpone marriage and childbearing. Although better
educated women tend to have fewer children, those children are more likely to survive because
they’re born into better socioeconomic conditions (less poverty, better hygiene, and increased
medical care).[33]
3. Access to contraceptives. According to Save the Children, an organization dedicated to
improving children’s lives, “222 million women have an unmet need for family planning.”[34]
Many of these women live in poverty in the developing world. While the net effect is reduced
fertility, contraceptive access has 3 effects on population. One, couples have fewer children. Two,
more children survive when births are adequately spaced. Three, fewer women die as a result of
pregnancy.[35] Meeting family planning needs lowers infant mortality an estimated 10 to 20
percent and maternal deaths by 35 percent.[36]
Contraceptives shift population demographics from high birth rate and high death rates toward
lower birth rates and death rates. The latter scenario leads to more stable and economically
prosperous societies. Overall, quality of life improves.
As a solution to overpopulation, Stanford University professor and author of The Population Bomb
Paul Ehrlich cofounded Zero Population Growth, now called the Population Connection. Sustainable
population gr ...
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