By: Luke Frankel
Chapter Fourteen is all about environmental health. I am going to talk to you guys about what the meaning of environmental health is, how we can plan to be more environmentally healthy, and also how my health and wellness has gone this passed week.
Environmental health is a mixture of a few different pieces that all come together to form how our society as a whole can sustain our life on this planet. The biggest of these dangers is overpopulation, where the world population grows to a point at which it cannot self sustain anymore. “Tomorrow’s population will be significantly larger and more industrialized, will consume more resources, and will produce even more waste than previous generations unless population growth is controlled and major changes in environmental policy and behavior occur”(Donatelle 332). The next biggest dangers are pollution of air and water, as well as global warming. Global warming is a result of pollution of the air, and as such it is important to talk about them together. “Global warming is a type of climate change in which average temperatures increase. Over 97 percent of scientists now agree that the planet is warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels” (Donatelle 334). This is a scary thought, because even a one percent increase in the global temperature can be catastrophic for the world.
We can plan to be more environmentally healthy in a lot of different ways. As a society, we need to stop polluting the air with our immense fossil fuel usage. Air pollution is the biggest factor in the world’s global warming. “According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Research Council, climate change poses major risks to lives, and excess greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone)” (Donatelle 338). This is scary, because we could all be contributing to a future where millions of people die as a result of our lack of planning.
Lastly, my own health and wellness goals this week have been well met. I have worked really hard to push myself out of bed and run or do sprints every other day. I have been keeping track of the food I have been eating and I am glad to say that I have been feeling better, mentally, and physically every single day. The semester is coming to an end and life is slowly going back to normal. Hopefully, the gyms will open back up soon and my life will get back to normal.
Luke's Wellness Blog 