Environmental Degradation Flashcards
Environment Impacts Health by…
- resource use
- changes ecosystems functions and biophysical cycles
- pollutants and chemicals
- psychological, cultural and spiritual well-being
- socially determined and political
Effects of Climate Change (EFVW)
- risk of extreme weather
- food insecurity
- vector-borne illness
- water contamination (e.g. rising sea levels in Bangladesh have led to maternal hypertension)
Life-Course Approach
- protecting children (exposure in the womb leads to effects later in life)
- threats to childhood health can lead to future effects risk of future chronic disease
Human Impact on the Environment
- I=PAT
- wealthy countries emphasize population rather than consumption
- doesn’t include references to differences in affluence and resource use
- technology can increase impact (need for electricity) or decrease it (clean technologies)
- POPULATION + AFFLUENCE + TECH = IMPACT
Thomas Malthus
early 1800s: NO SEX allows for controlled populations
Paul Ehrlich (1960s)
“The Population Bomb”-> over population and resource use beyond carrying capacity of the earth (BIRTH CONTROL)
Population Control Movements
1960s-1980s:
- environmentalists concerns
- supported by racism
- Cold War fear of rising “Third World” non-white populations
- violation of human rights and distract from issues of distribution
Climate Change
- new interest in overpopulation
- industrialized countries (20% of global population) responsible for 80% of accumulated CO2 in the atm
- population growth was popular with industrialized countries allows for continued growth of consumption
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)
- pesticides (e.g DDT) contaminate food chains-> effect human health
- tech advances can disrupt ecosystems
- pushback against retailers
- “destructive acts into the cycles of the earth and in time bring hazards upon ourselves”
Economic Growth, Pollution and Health in Canada
- past 30 yrs = large economic growth
- fuelled by coal
- increases in overall well-being
- severe air and water pollution
- respiratory and heart disease= leading causes of death
- 40% of water in river systems become unfit for use
- desertification and erosion effect 30% of land
The Environmental Paradox
-destroying the land for resources to build our economy at the same time posing a risking our health (engaging in behaviours that increase well-being while also hurting our environmental health)
Policies and Ideology Behind Growth-Environment Paradox
- low industry regulation
- consumer capitalism (growth comes from wealth)
- natural resources are boundless (will be naturally deterred by the market)
- environment= commodity
- environmental costs are externalized (damage in order to grow)
Role of Technology
- increases resource use, disrupts ecosystems, contaminates air and water (contributing to climate change)
- resource use more efficient, purify air and water, provide alternative energy sources
- e.g. “Green New Deal”: investment in green jobs and infrastructure
Sustainable Development
- meets the needs of the current generation without affecting future generations (UN)
- need to consider the relationship and interdependence of economy, environmental and social issues
Collective Action Problem
-multiple people would benefit from a certain action, but the costs makes it unlikely that the individual will be able to afford it
Tragedy of the Commons
- individual uses of commonly owned resources and each try to benefit the most by exploiting the resource even when the demand is greater than the supply
- e.g. the over-grazing cows, over-fishing of the seas, polluting shared water, air and soil.
Policy Responses
- internalize the social, health and environmental costs
- carbon-tax
- cap and trade
- ban or regulate pollutants
- regulation of resource use
- investment in green technologies, practises and urban planning
Investing in Environmental Health and Well-Being
- Promoting active transport: biking or walking
- Sustainable Urban Design: Green space to encourage well-being, active transport and reduce health island effect
- Temperature Stable Housing Design: reduce the risk fo heat stress, reducing peak electricity demand
Distribution of Environmental Harm
- NOT EVEN!
- wealthy countries export environmental degradation (digital waste)
Environmental Racism
-distribution of harm associated with environmental degradation among non-white communities (structural violence)
Distribution of Harm from Climate Change
- geographical and demographical vulnerability
- Africa, island nations and costal regions
- low-income countries (greater effects with less ability to cope)
- economically poor, elderly or young
Environmental Refugees
- displaced due to environmental stress
- permanently displaced and resettle (move in order to look for better life as some land cannot be rehabilitated)
- 50-200 million people will be displaced by 2080 due to climate change (Williams, 2008)
- changing sea levels (effects lower lying costal areas)
- food insecurity and lack of fresh water
- e.g. Bangladesh- flooding and salt contamination of arable land
Environmental Justice
- eliminate the unequal distribution of harm resulting from environmental degradation and climate change
- marginalized groups continue to receive larger burden (although they contributed less)
- wants sharing of costs and wants those who benefit the most to pay those who are protecting and being harmed by their activities
