ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND PROTECTION

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND PROTECTION

 

The environmental health and protection as research shows is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plants lives or operate. it can also be defined as the sum total of all the living and non-living elements and their effects which influence human life.

 

Before we dive in lets try to understand the whole concept of environmental health and protection; it is basically focused on safe guarding human health by managing and combating environmental hazards, while creating a sustainable ecosystem for our communities and the future.

 

Today we are going to dive into the following topics that are related to environmental health and protection.

– Climate change, causes, and impacts.

– Environmental pollution and solutions.

– Environmental conservation.

 

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPACTS

I am sure you’ve heard people talk about clim change, or at-least a few things related to it, today we are going to dive into the topic as a whole and how it affects our environment and what we can do to improve the state of our environment despite the challenges we face with climate change.

 

Climate change as research defines it is the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. It is said that since 1800s human activities have been the largest drive to the increase in climate change.

 

Here are some causes of climate change;

The causes i am going to mention below are mainly human driven causes that lead to climate change.

Green house gases: large amounts of carbon dioxide are usually released from power plants as a result of the combustion of fossil fuel, like coal, oil and gas, it traps the suns heat, which leads to global warming and climate change.

Deforestation (cutting down trees): cutting down forests and trees to create farms, pastures or recreational centers, causes emissions, as it is we all know trees produce carbon dioxide which means the lesser the carbon dioxide emissions from trees the lesser the ability of nature to protect emissions from atmosphere.

Manufacturing of goods: so many industries that produce things like cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothes and many others, produce emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels, which releases toxic gas into the atmosphere and causes a disruption in the atmosphere.

Food production: food production requires energy for the equipment or food producing machinery and they also usually require the use of fossil fuel, farming and growing crops also cause emission due to the use of chemical fertilizers and manure, greenhouse gases from packaging and processing materials also contributes to climate change and global warming.

Too much human consumption: usually your homes, companies, factories and commercial buildings usually require the use of power and electricity, as they use coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, also what you eat, and what you dispose of, like plastics, electronics, clothing and basically garbage also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

 

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER HERE ARE SOME IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change affects the environment in many different ways, including rising temperatures, sea level rise, drought, flooding, and more. These events affect things that we depend upon and value.

 

– Increase in droughts, water is becoming more scarce in some regions, causing more deaths and damages to the environment than the human population.

– Changes in temperature which leads to changes in rainfall, which causes excessive rainfall, floods and storms which causes severe loss of life and destruction of natural resources and property.

– Hotter temperature conditions, nearly every year the earths temperature increases people experience more heat waves than they did the previous year which causes heat related illnesses such as asthma attacks or other respiratory diseases,malaria, malnutrition etc, it also causes wildfires which is dangerous.

– Climate changes causes poverty more than we want to admit as research shows it increases the factors that put and keep people in poverty. Floods may sweep away urban slums, destroying homes and livelihoods. Heat can make it difficult to work in outdoor jobs. Weather-related disasters displace 23 million people a year, leaving many more vulnerable to poverty.

– Some other effects of climate Change are wildfire caused by heat and dryness, bleached coral caused by ocean acidification and heating, environmental migration caused by desertification, and coastal flooding caused by storms and sea level rise.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND SOLUTIONS

Environmental pollution is known as the disposal and introduction of harmful substances, chemicals or toxic wastes and elements into the environment, either through solid, liquid, or gas.

 

There are mainly three types of environmental pollution which are;

–Air pollution.

– Water pollution.

– Soil pollution.

 

AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution – air pollution is the contamination of the indoor and outdoor environment (the air in our surroundings) by any chemical, physical and biological substances or agents through the atmosphere.

 

HERE ARE SOME CAUSES OF AIR POLLUTION

    • Car and truck exhaust.
    • Dust.
    • Mold spores.
    • Chemicals from factories.
    • Harmful gases.
    • Smoke from burning bushes etc…

 

HOW TO LOWER THE RATE OF AIR POLLUTION

  • Reduce gas consumption.
  • Use your cars in good conditions, fuel your cars and vehicles properly, drive your car less.
  • Find proper ways to discard your trash instead of burning them.
  • If you run a factory that produces a lot of fossil fuels try as much as possible to keep your engines running properly and keep them from producing too much fossil fuels.
  • Plant and care for trees as much as possible .

 

WATER POLLUTION

Water pollution is the contamination of water (streams, rivers, lakes, oceans or any body of water) by harmful chemicals or microorganisms that can cause serious health problems for the environment. It degrades the water quality and makes it toxic which can be harmful for human health and consumption in general.

 

HERE ARE SOME RESEARCH BASED CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION

1- Fuel spillage.

2- Dumping of refuse and garbage in the water.

3- Deforestation.

4- Global warming.

5- Lack of proper water treatment.

6- Chemical contaminants.

 

One of the most common impacts of water pollution on humans is transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, hormonal and reproductive illnesses, etc.

 

HOW TO LOWER THE RATE OF WATER POLLUTION

Proper sewage and waste water management.

Proper water conservation.

Use of less plastic.

Use environmentally friendly products.

Use of proper water treatment.

 

SOIL POLLUTION

Is the contamination of the soil or land by chemicals or substances that cause major damage to the soil environment, it is caused by the presence of xenobiotic chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.

 

HERE ARE THE MAJOR CAUSES OF SOIL POLLUTION

– Acid rain.

– Agricultural activities (improper use of chemicals or pesticides).

– Waste disposal.

– Oil spillage.

– Industrial activities.

– Poor waste management.

– Erosion.

 

DISEASES CAUSED BY SOIL POLLUTION

  • Kidney and liver disease.
  • Nervous system damage.
  • Cancer and leukemia.
  • Skin rashes.
  • Eye irritations.
  • Nausea and vomiting.
  • Headache.
  • Chest pain.
  • Fatigue.

 

HOW TO PREVENT SOIL POLLUTION

1. Use of more eco friendly products.

2. Soil conservation.

3. Reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.

4. Use proper oil wastes management to avoid accidental oil spillage.

5. Stop deforestation.

6. Try recycling your wastes.

7. Practice organic farming.

8. Use a proper farming technique to grow your crops and plants.

9. Encourage reforestation this process helps to bind the soil, which helps to protect it from land pollution and prevents soil erosion and flooding.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Here we are just going to briefly talk about how to conserve the environment as a whole, environmental conservation is the process of preserving the environment it’s natural resources by protecting it from potential harmful effects, such as production of non renewable energy, it can be done by individuals, governments and groups.

 

Here are a few things we can do to conserve the environment as a whole, plant a tree, volunteer for cleans (waste management), reuse, recycle and reduce trash waste, educate the young people about the side effects of lack of proper environmental conservation and teach them how they can prevent it.

 

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