Lecture 3- Health of the Environment Flashcards
What does environmental health address
Physical, chemical and biological factors external to a person and all the related factors impacting behaviors
What is one of the largest risks to public health and causes 7 million deaths per year
Air pollution
Poor drainage and irrigation is linked to what vector born disease
Malaria
What are some impacts of climate change
Compromises the ecological and environmental integrity of living systems by:
Inducing lifestyle changes in pathogens, vectors and reservoirs, new and emerging diseases, trophic cascades, interfering with synchrony of species in habitat, modifying or destroying habitats
What has the WHO deemed as the biggest health threat facing humanity
Climate change
What is the relationship between climate change and socioeconomic status
Those contributing the least to climate change (lower income) are getting most heavily affected by it. Living in areas with poor air and water quality, vector distribution, etc
How has climate change impacted health, death and illness
Increasingly frequent extreme weather events like heatwaves, storms, floods
Disruption of food systems
Increases in zoonoses and food and water and vector borne diseases
Mental health issues
How many additional deaths is climate change expected to cause between 2030-2050
250,000 additional deaths per year
How does climate change impact diseases like malaria
Affects transmission season, longevity of mosquito and the development of malaria parasites in the mosquito and transmission
Climate change impact on nutrition
Leads to increased malnutrition
What is malaria
The worlds most important and deadly tropical mosquitos borne parasitic disease
Who approved the first malaria vaccine in October 2021
World Health Organization (WHO)
How will climate change impact transmission and distribution of malaria
Increase in global temperature will enhance the transmission rates and widen geographical distribution
Increase spread of disease in current malaria endemic areas and reemergence in areas where it was under control
How has malaria been eliminated in the past
Better socioeconomic conditions, improved irrigation and drainage, adoption of new farming methods, behavioral changes and access to better healthcare
How does temperature, rainfall and humidity impact malaria
Increase in temperature, rainfall, and humidity may cause a proliferation in malaria carrying mosquitoes at higher altitudes
Lower altitudes and warmer temperature affect on malaria
Warmer temperatures will alter the growth cycle of parasite in mosquito enabling it to develop faster, increasing transmission
Health of plants are directly related to
Drought/rainfall
How does temperature affect diseases of plants
Can increase spread of pests and pathogens therefore increase use of fungicides and pesticides
Fungal pathogens and plants
Threaten wheat, soybean and potatoes which are important staple calorie crops and food security
How is rust fungus impacting soybean
Rust fungus can travel globally on air currents, can cause 80% yield losses
Increased frequency of severe weather may make this pathogen harder to predict and mitigate against
How do extreme heat waves impact health
Increased incidence of heat stroke, dehydration, cardiac arrest, respiratory distress
People under stress due to climate are more susceptible to infectious diseases
How many people enter poverty from health shocks and stress
100 million each year
Relationship between biodiversity and health
Diversity of microorganisms, flora and fauna provide extensive benefits for biological health and pharmacological sciences so loss of biodiversity may limit the discovery of potential diseases
What is biodiversity
Biological variety in all forms, from genetic make up of plants and animals to cultural diversity
Biodiversity and ecosystems
Human health depends on ecosystem products and services like fresh water, food, and fuel sources and biodiversity loss can have significant impact on human health if eco systems are no longer adequate
Biodiversity and nutrition
Biodiversity influences nutrition based on its influence on world food production. Ensures sustainable productivity of soils and provides genetic resources for crops, livestock and marine species
Biodiversity and infectious disease
Human activities altering ecosystems and biodiversity. Reduce abundance of some organisms, cause population growth in others, modify the interactions among organisms and alter interactions between organisms and their physical and chemical environments.
What are some major examples of how the environment can impact infectious diseases
Deforestation, land-use change, waste management, uncontrolled urbanization, resistance to pesticides, climate variability and change, migration and international travel and trade, accidental or intentional human introduction to pathogens
Bats and Hendra
Food shortages in Australia cause bats to break into smaller groups and near readily available food like farms and urban gardens
Deforestation has caused bats to make new habitats, bats in these novel environments excrete more Hendra virus
What is hendra virus
Deadly zoonotic disease that affects humans and horses
What is a tropic cascade
Effects of removal or addition of keystone species that propagate through food webs across multiple trophic levels
When do trophic cascades occur
When predator limit the density and/or behavior of their prey and thereby enhance survival of the next lower trophic leve;
What is the trophic cascade effect between wolves, deer and gass
Wolves if removed from the environment increase population of deer and decrease grass/trees
Wolves 3rd level reintroduced can prey upon deer 2nd level and therefore preserve grass/trees which is 1st trophic level
What is a keystone species
Are present when a single species or just a few species play a crucial role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community
Determine the types and numbers of various other species in community
When do keystone species occur
Where the species diversity and diversity of a predator-prey relationships within the food web are modest or low
What happens with disappearance of keystone species
Results in complete rearrangement of food web, this is a trophic cascade
Sea otters and kelp example
Sea otter is keystone species with sea urchins as its main food source
Sea urchins graze on kelp-abundance is related to abundance of sea urchins
Sea otter population wiped out by human hunting the population of sea urchins grew and decimated kelp forests.
Reintroduction of sea otters and no hunting led to recovery of kelp forests
However evidence shows the decline of the kelp stock contributed to starvation and extinction of Steller’s sea cow
