Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine
Our health is affected by our surroundings—the purity of the water and air, and the safety of our workplaces. But whereas it was once possible to consider the environment in local terms—the air above our city and the water in the nearby river—today it must be defined as the whole planet and its enve...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.515.715 http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/ephli/resources/health_and_the_environment.pdf |
| Summary: | Our health is affected by our surroundings—the purity of the water and air, and the safety of our workplaces. But whereas it was once possible to consider the environment in local terms—the air above our city and the water in the nearby river—today it must be defined as the whole planet and its enveloping atmosphere. The climate is warming. Environmental changes have gone global, and actions in one region impact on others. For example, long-lasting pollutants that enter the rivers and sea from the industrial cities of the northern hemi sphere are ending up in the breast milk of Inuit women whose diet is rich in fish and sea mammals. Forest fires in Indonesia are creating smogs well beyond the nation’s borders to rival the “pea-soupers ” of 1950s London or Los Angeles. And, as with so many health threats, the disease burden from pollution is borne dis proportionately by the poor, the least empowered to control their environments. Although many of the growing environmental threats are global, environ mental researchers believe that prompt human action can still have a profound impact in reducing those threats. Current investment in technologies, modes of |
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