Protection of Environment and Health - Coursework Example

Protection of Environment and Health Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Instructor Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 17th January, 2012. Protection of Environment and Health Introduction Climate change refers to the statistical change in weather patterns over long periods of time (Letcher 2009). In this regard, changes in weather occurring over short periods of time cannot be taken to comprise climate change for instance the occurrence of the El – Nino. In recent times, the term has been used to refer to changes in climate that are as a result of human activities as opposed to changes occurring to climate due to natural factors. There are many factors causing climate change with human activities being the main contributors to climate change. This paper therefore reviews the interventions that have been adopted which protect the environment and the interventions that promote health with emphasis laid on how the interventions are congruent or incongruent with each other. Though there are many human activities that cause climate change for instance, deforestation and burning of bushes thus increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and hence climate change (Gore 2009), the paper focuses on transport, energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy of building codes in the USA and the interventions that have been developed as mitigation strategies in the United States of America. According to reports published by IPCC, undisputed evidence shows that human activities are continuously influencing climatic systems and the evidence lies in the observable changes in stratospheric ozone, greenhouse gases (GHGs) increase and also aerosols (Bradshaw & Holzapfel 2006). With major countries like the USA advancements in activities for instance transport, energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy of building codes, it is without a doubt that there is need for interventions that are aimed at protecting the environment and also promoting health. However, some of the interventions created for instance to protect the environment also goes a long way in promoting the health of citizens and hence the congruence or incongruence of such interventions is also a force to reckon with. In reference to the UN, mitigation is defined as taking into consideration climatic change as any human involvements that are in line with reducing the sources of GHGs or increasing the sinks for greenhouse gases (Chen, Seiner, Suzuki & Lackner 2012). Changes in the USA Climate Transport Apart from the position of USA in world affairs, USA is one of the countries with a high emission of greenhouses gases and also carbon dioxide from combustion of fossil fuels. With the US population projected to increase coupled with improved changes in the country’s economics, it is estimated that one thirds of the emissions that contribute to greenhouse gases comes from the transportation industry in the US. Carbon dioxide from the transport industry comes from the combustion of fossil fuels by personal cars, aircrafts and other vehicles in the transportation industry and which is the source of CO2 in the US. In addition, the automobile industry is a popular culture in the United States of America (Schmidt & Wolfe 2009). Perhaps the most important justification for containing emissions of CO2 and other GHGs from the transport industry in the US is to control the impact that they have on the climate that has led to climatic changes in the country. If there are no mitigation strategies to contain the emissions from the transport industry, climatic change would just be something theoretical despite the need for sustainable and clear environment in the US. One of the mitigation strategies in this sector is to encourage people to reduce the number of travels that they make and hence contribute to the reduction of GHGs and CO2 emissions. This premise that by reducing the trips that people make by vehicles, emissions that contribute to climate change are to reduce is based on the arguments that increased trips by automobiles increases the emissions and this eventually impacts on the quality of air in the US. Reduced travels also have the impact of increasing walking and bicycle activities by citizens and hence health benefits to people. Policies that ensures that there are reduced travels also goes a long way in reducing impervious surfaces for instance road surfaces and parking spaces and thus there would be fewer disruptions to water cycle and hence quality water (Arnold, Chester, & Gibbons, 1996). Thousands of respiratory illnesses are attributed to the quality of air to which vehicle air pollutants are great contributors. In addition, policies that encourage walking and biking ensures that people do not suffer from diseases that are related to lack of exercises for instance obesity which is at epidemic levels in the US (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2002). In conclusion, in the relationship between climate change and transport in the US, the topic of human health cannot be ignored. Increased transport increases the amount of emissions and this leads to air pollution and the decrease in the physical activities by human beings leading to health related diseases (McMichael, Woodruff & Hales 2006). Though the policies set forth to reduce the number of travels and to encourage people to walk more and bike more to places of work is inconsistence to the economic development of the country. In this era of modern technology where people can work from the comfort of their home, then it follows that people will reduce the number of times that they have to travel by road and at the same time do nothing to improve their health for the work will be done at home. Then again, what happens where it is really necessary to use vehicles to travel from one destination to another? I feel that the policies should be geared towards mitigating the effects of climate change brought about by the automobile industry rather than putting up policies that are ignored when need arises, for instance, the need to travel to distant places. The policies set forth in the US transport industry needs to be revised and awaken the fact with increased globalization, discouraging the movement of people from one place to another will do nothing to advance the economy of the country and improve the health of the citizens. Then the focus should be what is being done to the automobile industry to mitigate climate change effects? Is there hope of producing cars that are environmental friendly and hence less or no air pollution at all for the overall health of individuals? I therefore think that the focus is off the hook as the mitigation strategies should be geared more towards producing environmental friendly cars thus protection of the environment and consequently health and other sources of fuel for instance biodiesel (Schmidt & Wolfe 2009). Energy Efficiency It refers to using less energy in giving the same service that would have been given. The US has been on the forefront in improving in energy efficiency with the main focus being the reduction of GHGs and also in light of managing the changes in climate in the future. There are many energy efficiency strategies in the US ranging from simple strategies to complex ones. Among the strategies include, the way buildings are designed for instance, buildings can be designed in an optimized way for the local environment setting for instance, the designs for the building are in such a way that the demand for indoor heating and also cooling is reduced. In most cases in the US, modern houses which are built are houses which incorporate wall color, pigment of the house and the surface and volume ratio of the house is in such a way that the heating and the cooling of the house is greatly influenced. In addition, situating a building in a place where there is direct illumination from the sun ensures that the building gets natural heating from the sun as opposed to heating using fuels. In the US, architects are designing houses that have additional thermal walls insulation to ensure that less energy is used while heating the building. In industries, natural gas is being used more to provide energy as opposed to coal which pollutes the environment (Clarke, 2001). The move to have energy efficiency strategies in the US ensures that there is cleaner air for there is less pollution when natural sources of energy are used to produce energy. For instance, instead of burning wood to heat the houses during the cold seasons, designing walls that have thermal insulation ensures that less carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming is emitted and also this moves ensures that forests are conserved and hence less calamities for instance flooding and drought as a result of deforestation among other causes of environmental hazards. While GHGs emissions are reduced and thus cleaner air, diseases which are air borne and related to presence of pollutants in the air are also reduced. Energy efficiency reduces greenhouse gases emitted in the atmosphere. For instance, the traditional methods of heating coal to produce energy in the industry when replaced with more environment friendly methods like wind power and solar energy ensures that energy that could have been held in the lower atmosphere from emissions of GHGs, is reduced and therefore the effects of climate change are reduced through energy efficiency strategies (Markvart 2000). In turn, health risks associated with emissions of GHGs are reduced to a great extent. However, some of the strategies and policies so developed do little in contributing to energy efficiency for instance, turning off light whenever there are not in use or switching of computers and other electrical appliances when there are not being used. Energy efficiency as defined is doing the same amount of work or activity while using less energy and hence some mitigation strategies fail to contribute to energy efficiency. Planting of trees is another strategy that is incongruent with the policies developed to promote human health and also protect the environment. Developed countries have adopted this strategy whereby companies which do not want to contribute to climate change are paying other stakeholders in developing countries to plant trees on their behalf. With this said than done, such companies continue with their normal activities emitting GHGs in the environment albeit being aware that such gases are the ones that are contributing to global climatic changes. The companies compromise the health of people for instance the ones that are working within the organization for example a paper manufacturing factory. Therefore, the incongruence of some policies developed for instance where companies are to pay for carbon credits do not go hand in hand in ensuring that the strategies protect the environment and also promote human health (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002). Renewable sources of energy of building codes The Department of Energy (DOE) in the US has significantly been a great contributor in advocating for buildings that are energy efficiency. The DOE collaborates with international together with state officials in coming up with codes that help in assessing new energy efficient methods and technologies and barriers to energy efficient methods. Under this strategy, the objective is to design buildings that are efficient in energy and resources in addition to protecting the health of the occupant (Allen & Iano 2008). In so doing, renewable sources of energy of building codes, ensures that waste products are reduced and pollution and hence environmental hazards that occur are greatly reduced. Renewable sources of energy of building codes is one of the mitigation strategy in the US, buildings are therefore environmentally friendly and also use efficient resources (Hopkins 2002). Natural building is also a mitigation strategy in the building industry in the US whereby, architects are using materials that are naturally available and the materials that will not comprise the future of the coming generations (Clarke 2001). The strategy is in line with promoting the health of an individual through the use of materials that are environmental friendly and also ensuring the safety of the individual. In reducing pollution through construction of buildings that are environment friendly, the productivity of the individual is increased and hence promotes health (McMichael 2003). While environmental friendly buildings are being built, the space that the buildings occupy collectively accumulates to the impervious surfaces and hence water quality is affected. In light of building buildings that are environmental friendly, what happens when such buildings are take up a lot of surface area where people are to cultivate and also affect the water quality? In using natural materials that use locally available resources, the question that looms is whether the materials are renewable and whether in depleting the materials they are going to cause environmental hazards (Hopkins 2002). If wood is the locally available material, then, it means that forest are going to be cleared and hence environmental impacts for instance floods will occur and hence the incongruence of some policies. In conclusion, abating GHGs emissions is a necessity not only in the US but to the whole world. Research indicates that the causes of climate change continue to increase and hence there is need to contain the effects of climate change (The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2006). While discussions on how to reduce climate change are still ongoing for instance whether countries which are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol and the ones which are not signatories to join the other countries continues to locks their horns in light of the economic benefits of such countries, there is need to come up with strategies to mitigate the effects of climatic change in the world (Zimmer, Hook & Petersen 2008). It is evident that there are so many strategies that can help mitigate climate change basing the argument on the few strategies and policies that have been discussed in this paper and which are typical to the US, however, the potential to unlock the strategies lies in the understanding that those strategies in addition to environmental conservation are also in congruent in protecting the health of individuals and also preventing environmental hazards from occurring. Bibliography Allen, E, & Iano, J. 2008. Fundamentals of building construction: materials and methods. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Arnold, L., Chester, C. & Gibbons, J. 1996. Impervious Surface Coverage, The Emergence of a Key Environmental Indicator, Journal of the American Planning Association, Volume 62, Number 2, pp.243-258. Bradshaw, W. & Holzapfel, C. 2006. Climate Change - Evolutionary response to rapid climate change. Science 312(5779):1477-1478. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002, Kids Walk-to-School: A Guide for Community Actionto Promote Children Walking to School. Chen, W., Seiner, J. Suzuki, T. & Lackner, M. 2012. Handbook of Climate Mitigation. New York. Springer. Clarke, J. 2001. "Energy Simulation in Building Design", London. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2nd Ed. Gore, A. 2009. Our choice: a plan to solve the climate crisis, Rodale Books, United States. Hopkins, R. 2002. A Natural Way of Building. Transition Culture Letcher, T. 2009. Climate change: Observed Impacts on Planet Earth, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Markvart, T. 2000. "Solar Electricity" .New York. John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Ed. McMichael A. J., Woodruff E. & Hales, S. 2006. Climate change and human health: present and future risks. The Lancet. 367:859-869. McMichael, A. J., Lendrum, D. H., Corvalan, C. F., Ebi, K. L., Githelo, A., Scheraga, J. D. & Woodward, A. 2003. Climatic Change and Human Health. Risks Responses. U. S. World Health Oganization. Schmidt, G & Wolfe, J. 2009. Climate change: picturing the science, W. W. Norton & Company, New York. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2006. Heat-related deaths—United States, 1999–2003. Morbidity and MortalityWeekly Report 55(29):796-798. Zimmer, W, Hook, W & Petersen, R 2008. Future challenges of transport and environment symposium paper presented in Berlin 2008. Read More

Thousands of respiratory illnesses are attributed to the quality of air to which vehicle air pollutants are great contributors. In addition, policies that encourage walking and biking ensures that people do not suffer from diseases that are related to lack of exercises for instance obesity which is at epidemic levels in the US (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2002). In conclusion, in the relationship between climate change and transport in the US, the topic of human health cannot be ignored.

Increased transport increases the amount of emissions and this leads to air pollution and the decrease in the physical activities by human beings leading to health related diseases (McMichael, Woodruff & Hales 2006). Though the policies set forth to reduce the number of travels and to encourage people to walk more and bike more to places of work is inconsistence to the economic development of the country. In this era of modern technology where people can work from the comfort of their home, then it follows that people will reduce the number of times that they have to travel by road and at the same time do nothing to improve their health for the work will be done at home.

Then again, what happens where it is really necessary to use vehicles to travel from one destination to another? I feel that the policies should be geared towards mitigating the effects of climate change brought about by the automobile industry rather than putting up policies that are ignored when need arises, for instance, the need to travel to distant places. The policies set forth in the US transport industry needs to be revised and awaken the fact with increased globalization, discouraging the movement of people from one place to another will do nothing to advance the economy of the country and improve the health of the citizens.

Then the focus should be what is being done to the automobile industry to mitigate climate change effects? Is there hope of producing cars that are environmental friendly and hence less or no air pollution at all for the overall health of individuals? I therefore think that the focus is off the hook as the mitigation strategies should be geared more towards producing environmental friendly cars thus protection of the environment and consequently health and other sources of fuel for instance biodiesel (Schmidt & Wolfe 2009).

Energy Efficiency It refers to using less energy in giving the same service that would have been given. The US has been on the forefront in improving in energy efficiency with the main focus being the reduction of GHGs and also in light of managing the changes in climate in the future. There are many energy efficiency strategies in the US ranging from simple strategies to complex ones. Among the strategies include, the way buildings are designed for instance, buildings can be designed in an optimized way for the local environment setting for instance, the designs for the building are in such a way that the demand for indoor heating and also cooling is reduced.

In most cases in the US, modern houses which are built are houses which incorporate wall color, pigment of the house and the surface and volume ratio of the house is in such a way that the heating and the cooling of the house is greatly influenced. In addition, situating a building in a place where there is direct illumination from the sun ensures that the building gets natural heating from the sun as opposed to heating using fuels. In the US, architects are designing houses that have additional thermal walls insulation to ensure that less energy is used while heating the building.

In industries, natural gas is being used more to provide energy as opposed to coal which pollutes the environment (Clarke, 2001). The move to have energy efficiency strategies in the US ensures that there is cleaner air for there is less pollution when natural sources of energy are used to produce energy. For instance, instead of burning wood to heat the houses during the cold seasons, designing walls that have thermal insulation ensures that less carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming is emitted and also this moves ensures that forests are conserved and hence less calamities for instance flooding and drought as a result of deforestation among other causes of environmental hazards.

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