Relationship between the Environment and Health NameInstitutionInstructorCourseDate Relationship between the Environment and Health IntroductionHealth is the general well-being of a human being, which involves normal body functioning and effectiveness in the metabolic process and other body functions which are important in the daily operation of the human beings (Friis, 2018). Total well-being includes spiritual, physical, and mental wholeness (Friis, 2018). Normal health can also be described as the ability of a human being to operate normally without pain, injury, or any ailments (Friis, 2018). Health can be influenced by factors, which may include diseases, social factors, biological, and external factors which may include the environment. These factors affect the normal functioning of the body (Friis, 2018). The environment has a direct relationship to the health of individuals and can impact a good health as well as a bad health depending on the conditions of the environment (Friis, 2018).
God created the environment to support human life, which in result leads to a good health, but due to man’s activities on the earth, the environment has changed, and some activities result to negative effects on the environment, which impact the human health negatively. These side effects can lead to diseases and other factors, which can affect the normal body functioning (Friis, 2018).The Relationship between the Environment and HealthIn the Silent Spring book, it has revealed a worrying fact about how the earth has been polluted which is a health risk to all human beings and other living organisms on the planet (Carson, 2002). The environment is continuously changing which also leads to a change in the life processes. This may include changing the foods that humans consume due to the changing weather patterns (Van, Pre?vost, ; Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). The Silent Spring book brings to light the harmful behaviors of the human beings, which include carelessness, unconservative, and irresponsible individuals who are not considerate of the harmful effects of their actions to the environment (Carson, 2002).
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Miss Carson who is the author of the book issues a warning on the harmful effects of human activities and calling on all citizens to take immediate action and be responsible (Carson, 2002). Miss Carson states that history has proved that the environment has had a direct relationship with all living things. The environment influences physical life (Carson, 2002). This is indicated by the change in the well-being of all living creatures after man’s activities, which have polluted the environment (Carson, 2002). This pollution has led to diseases and other negative effects on the human life including death a sign that negative interference with the environment will lead to decrease in the total health status of all living creatures (Carson, 2002). The pollution of the environment can be because of contamination of the air, which supports the breathing system of all living creatures including vegetation, contamination of the soil, which is important in cultivation to provide living creatures with food, and contamination of natural waters (Carson, 2002).
Water in rivers, lakes, and any other water containment sources is very important, as the benefits of water are well known which are to support life (Van, Pre?vost, & Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). Interference with these sources through pollution will affect the users of water which are mostly human beings affecting their health status negatively. Since God created the environment, man has no power to modify it, rather conserve it. Most of these human activities cause permanent damage to the environment as most of the side effects of these activities cannot be reversed (Van, Pre?vost, & Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013).
When chemicals are released into the environment, the environment suffers and these negative effects affect human beings since they depend on the environment for their survival (Van, Pre?vost, & Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). This can also be seen for radiation. When a lot of radiation is released to the atmosphere, it will affect human beings who depend on the environment for clean air (Van, Pre?vost, & Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). Chemicals used on plants will eventually get into the body system after individuals have consumed the plants causing diseases or even sometimes death. Due to the complex diversification of the world, man has continued to create new changes in the environment without caring for the negative side effects of his activities (Van, Pre?vost, & Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). Some of the earth’s normal activities and elements like the sun and rains have now turned hostile against human life due to the interference of man with the environment (McMichael, Woodward, ; Muir, 2017). Floods which affect humans negatively have been as a result of not conserving the environment as well as ultra violet radiation from the sun which did not exist before is now a threat due to man’s interference with the ozone layer (McMichael, Woodward, & Muir, 2017).
Earth’s natural chemicals like calcium and copper, which the earth produced in medium levels, are now being produced by man in excess quantities, which are harmful to the environment and the human life (Carson, 2002). The use of chemicals to kill weeds and insects poisons the earth making it unfit for sustaining life. With the continued resurgence of insects, the chemicals produced have continued to increase in their toxicity causing a major concern for all life as the effects have worse effects also affecting the human themselves (Carson, 2002).
Human kind depends on the environment for all his activities and sustaining his life (McMichael, Woodward, ; Muir, 2017). Any changes in the environment will affect the human kind. Activities, which release radiation into the atmosphere, can cause gene mutations, which can lead to disease mutation, which leads to a more complex process in addressing these diseases (McMichael, Woodward, ; Muir, 2017). The resources necessary to manage and sustain the environment are continuously becoming exhausted causing a major concern over the safety of the next generation as humans depend on these resources for their daily survival (McMichael, Woodward, ; Muir, 2017). Due to the uncontrolled use of chemicals, human kind is exposed to the chemicals from their young age until death (Carson, 2002). This exposure has negative side effects to their lives and as statistics have shown, the life expectancy of current generation has decreased compared to the early generations who did not face a lot of exposure from these chemicals (McMichael, Woodward, ; Muir, 2017). It is difficult for individuals to prevent the exposure from the chemicals as they are in almost all the major elements important to individuals, which include food and water which are basic needs and one cannot survive without them (McMichael, Woodward, ; Muir, 2017).
ConclusionThe negative effects of the environment affect the human health and the sustenance of life (Friis, 2018). This has been caused by the activities of the human kind and if the process is not addressed, the effects will worsen and have serious consequences to the current generation as well as the future generation who will be more affected (Friis, 2018). It is the responsibility of every human being across the globe to preserve the environment and leave it better for the next generations (Friis, 2018). If our fore fathers never preserved the environment, we would be facing serious consequences of the negative activities they would have practiced (Resnik, 2012). We should be good ambassadors of the environment as everyone depends on the environment their survival (Resnik, 2012).
The governments and authority should also participate in the process through enacting policies that preserve the environment as free will to the citizens will lead to negative consequences (Resnik, 2012). These policies can include control over chemical production and usage on the environment. The government should also support organizations that are established to ensure that the environment is safe by putting measures that are aimed to renew and restore the environment (Resnik, 2012). Individuals should seek safe alternative methods to control insects and other organisms in the environment. Efforts to protect and conserve the environment should be encouraged, as negative effects of the environment will be ultimately felt by the human kind (Resnik, 2012).
ReferencesCarson, R. (2002). Silent spring.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Friis, R. H.
(2018). Essentials of environmental health. Burlington: Jones ; Bartlett Learning.McMichael, A. J., Woodward, A., ; Muir, C.
(2017). Climate change and the health of nations: Famines, fevers, and the fate of populations. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press.Resnik, D. B.
(2012). Environmental health ethics. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.Van, C.
G., Pre?vost, D., ; Edward Elgar Publishing.
(2013). Research Handbook on Environment, Health and the WTO. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Ltd.
