Environmental Degradation

Question 1

Environment Impacts Health by…

Answer 1

• resource use
• changes ecosystems functions and biophysical cycles
• pollutants and chemicals
• psychological, cultural and spiritual well-being
• socially determined and political

Question 2

Effects of Climate Change (EFVW)

Answer 2

• risk of extreme weather
• food insecurity
• vector-borne illness
• water contamination (e.g. rising sea levels in Bangladesh have led to maternal hypertension)

Question 3

Life-Course Approach

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

Human Impact on the Environment

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

Thomas Malthus

Answer 5

early 1800s: NO SEX allows for controlled populations

Question 6

Paul Ehrlich (1960s)

Answer 6

“The Population Bomb”-> over population and resource use beyond carrying capacity of the earth (BIRTH CONTROL)

Question 7

Population Control Movements

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Climate Change

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

Answer 9

• 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”

Question 10

Economic Growth, Pollution and Health in Canada

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

The Environmental Paradox

Answer 11

-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)

Question 12

Policies and Ideology Behind Growth-Environment Paradox

Answer 12

• 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)

Question 13

Role of Technology

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

Sustainable Development

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

Collective Action Problem

Answer 15

-multiple people would benefit from a certain action, but the costs makes it unlikely that the individual will be able to afford it

Question 16

Tragedy of the Commons

Answer 16

• 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.

Question 17

Policy Responses

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

Investing in Environmental Health and Well-Being

Answer 18

1. Promoting active transport: biking or walking
2. Sustainable Urban Design: Green space to encourage well-being, active transport and reduce health island effect
3. Temperature Stable Housing Design: reduce the risk fo heat stress, reducing peak electricity demand

Question 19

Distribution of Environmental Harm

Answer 19

• NOT EVEN!

- wealthy countries export environmental degradation (digital waste)

Question 20

Environmental Racism

Answer 20

-distribution of harm associated with environmental degradation among non-white communities (structural violence)

Question 21

Distribution of Harm from Climate Change

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

Environmental Refugees

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

Environmental Justice

Answer 23

• 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