1. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH “We don’t inherit the Earth from our parents…
We borrow it from our children.”
-Proverb-

2. What You’ll Learn
1. List global environmental issues.
2. Identify the connection between population and the environment.
3. Discuss facts related to families and children who are homeless.
4. Explain why maintaining the ozone layer is important to health.

3. What You’ll Learn
5. Describe the greenhouse effect and global warming.
6. Identify ways to stay informed about environmental issues.

4. Key Terms extinction habitat environment malnutrition homelessness
ozone layer
biodiversity
deforestation
greenhouse effect
global warming
extinction
habitat

5. People’s use of resources can affect the environment.
Environmental Issues
The environment includes all of the living and nonliving factors that you interact with each day.
People’s use of resources can affect the environment.
When the quality of the environment deteriorates, the quality of people’s health is affected.

6. Environmental Issues
Some important global environmental issues are population growth rate, global warming, the thinning of the ozone layer, and the reduction in the amount of existing rain forests.

7. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Population growth rate
The growth in human population can affect the environment.
The availability of food resources and health resources, and the declining mortality rate and increasing lifespan are factors that contribute to the rise in population.
As population grows, it consumes more of Earth’s resources.

8. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Population growth rate
If a country has limited economic resources, it may be difficult to meet the needs of its people.
Poverty is a condition in which a person does not have sufficient resources to eat and live healthfully.
Malnutrition is a condition in which the body does not receive either the energy nutrients or the balance of nutrients required for optimal health.

9. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Homelessness
Homelessness means having no permanent residence.
Homelessness affects many families every year.
Families account for more than 40 percent of the nation’s homeless people.
Unemployment, illness, or domestic violence interfere with a family finding affordable housing.
Children who are homeless have an increased risk of being homeless when they become adults.

10. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Homelessness
The health-related problems of homelessness include hunger, poor health, and high rates of mental-health problems, primarily anxiety and depression.
A lack of affordable housing is a major contributor to homelessness.

11. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Homelessness
Ways to help the homeless are to advocate within communities for jobs, health services, and housing; volunteer at shelters for the homeless; donate clothing, food, and furniture to homeless shelters; and tutor homeless children in after-school programs.

12. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Thinning of the ozone layer
Ozone is a molecule that is made up of three atoms of oxygen and is found in a layer of Earth’s atmosphere starting about ten miles above Earth.
The ozone layer is a protective layer of the upper atmosphere that prevents most of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun from reaching Earth’s surface.

13. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Thinning of the ozone layer
Too much UV radiation is harmful to living tissue and has been associated with skin cancer, cataracts, and other health conditions.
A seasonal ozone reduction over the Antarctic is caused by human-produced chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.
Concerns over these effects have caused nations worldwide to phase out the use of CFCs.

14. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Reduction of rain forests
A tropical rain forest is a hot, wet, forested area that contains many species of trees, plants, and animals.
Rain forests are located near the equator in Latin America, Africa, and Asia and cover about 7 percent of the land on Earth.
The vegetation in rain forests produces oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

15. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to the variety of species in an area.
Tropical rain forests have a high biodiversity.
About 25 percent of modern drugs, including aspirin, medicines for heart ailments and arthritis, and drugs used to treat leukemia originated in the rain forests.
If these species become extinct, these valuable sources no longer will be available.

16. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Deforestation
Deforestation involves cutting down the trees for timber or using the land for growing crops.
It takes 80–100 years for deforested land to fully regrow.
As a result of deforestation, less oxygen is released and less carbon dioxide is absorbed.

17. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Greenhouse effect and global warming
The greenhouse effect is the emission of radiant energy by gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
The greenhouse effect helps make Earth warm enough to sustain life.
Data indicates that Earth’s average surface temperature has increased by about 1°F over the past 100 years.
Global warming is an increase in Earth’s average global temperature.

18. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Greenhouse effect and global warming
At the same time Earth’s average temperature has increased, the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere also has increased, due primarily to the use of fossil fuels as an energy source.
Some evidence indicates that global warming might be due to the increase in carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.

19. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Ways Some People Try to Help the Environment
The following are ways individuals help their community’s health.
• Save electricity: Using electricity puts gases from fossil fuels into the air.
• Plant trees: Trees absorb carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas.
• Recycle: Recycling saves natural resources. Using recycled paper means that fewer trees need to be cut down.

20. What to Know About Environmental Issues
Ways Some People Try to Help the Environment
The following are ways individuals help their community’s health.
• Buy recycled products. Some recycled products are made with less energy than products made from new materials each time.
• Buy products that help the environment. Certain household appliances are built to use less electricity than conventional appliances.

22. Staying Informed
There are many ways to stay informed about environmental issues, including the Internet, radio, TV newscasts, magazines, and journals.

23. How to Stay Informed About Environmental Issues
Environmental agencies and organizations 
A regulatory agency is an agency that enforces laws to protect the general public, including laws established to protect the environment.
There are international environmental laws and national, state, and local environmental regulatory agencies.

24. How to Stay Informed About Environmental Issues
State and local agencies
Each state has its own Environmental Protection Agency, which is required to carry out the national environmental regulations within the state.
Like the federal EPA, state agencies can fine individuals, companies, or organizations who pollute the environment.

25. How to Stay Informed About Environmental Issues
Local environmental agencies
On the local level, a public health department is the environmental regulatory agency.
County and community public health departments enforce environmental standards and regulations and provide information on the environment.

26. How to Stay Informed About Environmental Issues
Federal Agencies that Protect the Environment
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reduces and controls environmental pollution. The EPA also publishes information on environmental issues and regulations.

27. How to Stay Informed About Environmental Issues
Federal Agencies that Protect the Environment
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) oversees safety in the workplace environment, and it sets and enforces standards for a safe and healthy workplace.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts research on health hazards in the workplace.

28. How to Stay Informed About Environmental Issues
Nongovernmental advocates
There also are nongovernmental environmental organizations that advocate for the environment, educate the public on environmental issues, and organize projects to improve the environment.

29. Federal Acts to Regulate the Environment
Functions
Clean Air Act
Allows the EPA to set standards for major air pollutants. A pollutant is any harmful substance released into the environment.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
Provides federal funding to clean up uncontrolled or hazardous waste sites and oil and chemical spills.

30. Federal Acts to Regulate the Environment
Functions
Clean Water Act
Sets regulations on wastes going into water and on the operation of waste treatment plants; makes it illegal to release pollutants in rivers, streams, lakes, etc.
Safe Drinking Water Act
Protects the quality of drinking water; sets standards for owners and operators of public water systems.

31. Federal Acts to Regulate the Environment
Functions
Endangered Species Act
Protects animal and plant species threatened by extinction; makes it illegal to remove an endangered species from its natural habitat.
Extinction is the death of all members of a species of plant or animal.
A habitat is a place where an animal or plant normally lives.

32. Federal Acts to Regulate the Environment
Functions
Natural Environmental Policy Act
Requires all government agencies to consider and assess the impact on the environment before taking any action that might affect the environment.
Toxic Substances Control Act
Authorizes the EPA to set standards for the manufacture, use, transport, and disposal of toxic substances.
Occupational Safety and Health Act
Sets a series of minimum safety and health standards that all employers must meet.