Environmental Change and Health
How Human Activity Induces Changes That Trigger Health Hazards
The aim of this article is to study a few environmental changes that result from human activity over a period of time and the health hazards they cause.
Global environment changes in the last few years have lead to the malfunctioning of many systems of nature. Apart from that, they have also had an effect on the health of the human population. The aim of this article is to see how different environmental changes affect human health.
Specific human activities and the health hazards they cause
a) Mass-migration: These days, employment and better standards of living are the causes of an increasing mass exodus of people from villages and countryside to cities. With the population of cities increasing beyond control, the infrastructure in these areas has not been able to provide adequate support to its residents. Due to this reason, there are increased incidences of epidemics like cholera, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.
b) Increased presence of CFCs: Human activities have been adding to the ever increasing amount of Chloro-fluoro carbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere, which has lead to the depletion of ozone layer. Due to this, the ultra-violet rays from the sun have been able to reach the earth’s surface directly, increasing the frequency of skin cancer.
c) Increased usage of fuels: Humans have also started burning fuels for different reasons. These days fuels are used for producing electricity, running vehicles, and several other purposes. With increased usage, higher quantities of green house gases composed of carbon dioxide are being released into the atmosphere. These gases prevent the heat rays reflected by the earth’s surface from escaping into space and increase the earth’s temperature excessively. These events have brought about extreme climatic changes. Recent surveys have showed that Earth's polar ice caps are melting and ocean levels are rising. More and more people have died due to extreme heat and cold in the recent years.
A proposal by WHO
These days, leading health organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) are becoming more and more interested in the idea of setting up teams of qualified researchers to study these changes. These researchers will identify the ways in which the global environmental change may be a threat to human health, and develop cost-effective methods effective in minimizing these threats.
Importance of this project
This project is important because it tries to identify the effects that various changes may have in the long term. For this purpose, environmental conditions and large-scale changes at the global level over a period of time are taken into account. This is what makes the analysis more accurate.
With careful analysis, this project can determine which activities should do reduced to minimize these changes over the long term.
To study more about the human response to disasters resulting from global environmental changes, read Global environmental change: Human response to disasters.
