Environmental Health Threats: What You Need to Know
Environmental Health Threats are shaping our health every moment of the day! We are constantly interacting with our environment. While spending time in nature is considered a healthy practice, there are several underlying factors in our surroundings making us vulnerable to a number of life-threatening diseases.
Environmental Health Threats -- what we mean when we say that? It’s the combination of all the biological, chemical & physical factors that are external to the human body (existing in the environment) that can affect our health negatively. Environmental Health is about the prevention & control of diseases, disabilities & injuries that are the result of our interaction with nature.
We cannot always let our internal factors & personal choices off the hook for falling prey to disease & health conditions. There are a variety of environmental factors that have to be blamed. While we think that our lifestyle choices like eating habits & exercise habits—are the only factors that need to be corrected for improved health.
Unlike this general notion, there are several other external factors & Environmental Health Threats that affect how often we fall ill. In this article, we’ll discuss these external Environmental Health Threats that are only getting bigger every day. Let’s get started:
Environmental Health Threats: What You Need to Know
Today, designing a lifestyle where environmental factors have only the least effect on our health. Prevention of Environmental Health Threats is a serious subject & is equally complex. It needs continuous research & study to get a hang of how different forms of environmental pollution affects human health.
There are six basic elements of environmental health threats. In the proceeding section, we’ll mention these six basic elements of environmental health. Here we go:
Global environmental health
Outdoor air quality
Homes and communities
Groundwater quality & Surface.
Hazardous wastes & toxic substances.
Infrastructure and surveillance
What Is Environmental Health?
Environmental Health is about addressing & monitoring — the physical, biological 7 chemical factors existing in the environment that we do not have direct control over but can affect our health in a number of ways. In a nutshell, environmental health is the sum total of all the external factors existing in our environment that can cause us to suffer from a number of life-threatening diseases affecting our mental & physical well being.
Why is Environmental Health Important?
Environmental health is not only important for enhancing the quality of our life but it does have an effect on longevity. Per a study, around 26% of deaths in children & 23% of all deaths throughout the world are caused due to environmental factors. These Environmental Health Threats present in our surrounding cause a huge number of diseases including Heart Disease, Stroke, Cancer, Respiratory Diseases & more.
Environmental Health Threats:
Almost all types of environmental health threats are linked together and they can influence each other. Various types of stakeholders need to work together to create solutions for all of the environmental health issues. Let’s talk about the top Environmental Health Threats:
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Pollution
Environmental Pollution is one of the major reasons for Environmental Health Threats pertaining to biodiversity and climatic change. Every type of pollution including air, water, soil, light, and light pollution — are responsible for environmental health hazards. Air, water & soil pollution in a broader sense along with climatic changes & global warming has an impact on human health. Not only do — air & water pollution can be detrimental to human & marine life but it also causes financial strain. The most effective way to deal with these challenges is to — educate people & implement strict regulations pertaining to these environmental Health Threats.
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Deforestation
Deforestation is the process of destruction of trees & plants that provide necessary things like — medicine, water, food & oxygen to the living organisms. With deforestation coming to the fore, there is a reduction in oxygen supply and other necessary ingredients that plants and trees provide us for improved quality of life. Various agriculture practices, timber harvesting in huge quantities for commercial purposes, illegal lodging, natural wildfire — and a number of other practices have led to increased deforestation. This has further led to greenhouse gas emissions that are increasing at an alarming rate every day. Deforestation, environmental pollution & global warming has led us to various Environmental Health Threats.
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Climate changes
The drastically changing climatic conditions have resulted in affecting the health most pathetically. These climatic changes have resulted from the greenhouse gases that cause heat coming from the sun to get trapped on the earth, making our environment warm. As a result of this, our ecosystem along with the marine habitat gets affected and the oceanic temperature rises. This in turn leads to increased global sea levels — making our lands shrink and causing mass floods.
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Hazardous waste
The poor waste management system is one of the factors that affect the quality of life and pose environmental health threats. It is important to find ways to update — hazardous material management system, contaminated site remediation, emergency responses, prevention of hazardous materials into the environment, and more. Correcting the Waste management systems is needed of the hour — it will help in the prevention of pollution being caused to the natural resources causing a number of health-hazardous diseases.
Takeaways.
Environmental health threats are one of the major topics — when we are talking about health & wellbeing. Environmental pollution is happening today in a number of ways including air pollution, water pollution, unstructured waste management systems & more. You’ll not even know and stealthily this environmental health might be causing you to suffer through a number of health-hazardous diseases. Today, it is vital to know that — in addition to the internal factors and our daily practices, there are other external environmental health threats that might be gradually making your body frail & vulnerable.
Educate yourself & the people around you about— environmental health & its possible effects on the quality of life!!
