The Environment and Health: A Cycle of Detrimental Effects
Children frolic among the grass and animals find solace within their home, exhibiting an environment that continues to grow. Although there have been progressive improvements in the care for our environment, the hazards that are destructive to public health far outweigh them. A number of specific issues can occur: chemical and air pollution, diseases occurring from microbes/microorganisms, and the contamination of habitats etc. If the environmental health itself is suffering, then it is certain that the wellness of individuals, families, and communities will also face the same repercussions.
What is the Relationship Between the Environment and Health?
Public health is a constant target of the environment: simple changes such as warmer temperatures or shifting weather patterns can easily alter the air quality, allowing for respiratory and cardiovascular difficulties. Continuous cycles of damage to the environment, such as man made wildfires, are the largest producers of smoke and additional unhealthy air pollutants. With constant harm to the environment, public health becomes the target for mother nature’s harsh reaction.
Weather and climate affects are not the sole factor in terms of damaging public health. Constant alterations made to food insecurity serves to impact human lives and health as well. As extreme weather conditions (rise of global temperatures and sea levels, droughts, and floods) increase, the food supply begins to dwindle. Such disadvantageous and critical conditions pose difficulty to farmers and workers when growing and maintaining a steady food supply, cycling back to a critical hit on the health of numerous communities and individuals with no food to obtain.
What Solutions Exist?
Although combating climate change can prove to be unbearable, the main key to a healthy lifestyle within such an environment begins with baby steps. Individuals can do so with a number of tactics:
Consume less meat- researches from Advances in Nutrition discovered that diets with low counts of meat but high in both fruits and vegetables were linked with lower emissions from greenhouse gasses and a lower risk for chronic diseases.
Learn one’s own health and the health of their family- be informed on what kind of weather alerts to be looking out for, use the proper medication for different types of health effects, and protect exposure to the environment and its changing temperatures.
Projecting a voice in climate change and community health through civic engagement- citizens can go to local election boards to understand election candidates and their stand on climate change. Attaining such valuable information can help citizens elect mayors, governors, etc who truly exhibit concern for the environment and public health
A healthy environment is a gateway to a fit lifestyle, decrease in the risk of diseases, and an increase in productivity for workers. It produces an environment in which everyone can fulfill longer and thriving lives with chances to grasp beneficial opportunities and attain accomplishments. There must be a joint effort executed to allow this life to become a reality for our modern day world. A healthy environment is a healthy life.
Works Cited
“Climate Impacts on Human Health.” EPA, 13 Jan. 2017, 19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-human-health_. html#:~:text=Changes%20in%20the%20climate%20affect,respiratory%20and%2 0cardiovascular%20health%20effects. Di Napoli, Claudia, et al.
“Tracking the Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health via Indicators: Lessons from the Lancet Countdown.” BMC Public Health, vol. 22, no. 1, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13055-6. Gundersen, Craig, and James P. Ziliak.
“Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes.” Health Affairs, vol. 34, no. 11, 2015, pp. 1830–1839, https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0645. G.P. Morris a, et al. “Getting Strategic about the Environment and Health.” Public Health, 11 Sept. 2006, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033350606001442.
“8 Environmental Factors That Affect Health.” Regis College Online, 5 May 2023, online.regiscollege.edu/blog/environmental-factors-that-affect-health/.