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Public Health and the Environment Discussion Follow Up My Initial Post The topic I selected was the effect of air pollution on public health. There is evidence that urban sprawls suffer congestion, air pollution due to long hours in traffic that affects rising cases of asthma. The influence of air pollution is global because it contributes to global warming. The rising global temperatures affect climatic conditions and general well being on the planet. The most urgent public health issue is air pollution caused by greenhouse gases. The increasing global temperatures attributed to rising floods, rising sea-levels, and extended drought conditions. There is urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to reduce rising temperatures. The reduction of Carbon-dioxide calls for the use of green energy increased use of mass public transportation, shifting away from fossil energy use. The world, also, need to raise forest covers and preserve available water. Air pollution control calls for new and efficient technologies like electric cars. References Webb, B. (n.d.). Venice: Rising Water, Sinking Land. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://people.umass.edu/latour/Italy/venice_water/ CBS News. (2018, January 08). Natural disasters cost U.S. a record $306 billion last year. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-record-306-billion-natural-disasters-last-year-hurricanes-wilidfires/ Teacher’s CommentColleague’s Post As the human population has grown in size, our activities and technological capabilities have intruded in one way or another into the dynamic of most ecosystems. Even where we have not completely destroyed a natural system, our actions have disrupted the trophic structure, energy flow, and chemical cycling of ecosystems in most areas of the world. The effects are sometimes local or regional, but the ecological impact of humans can be widespread or even global. For example, acidic gases may be carried by prevailing winds and fall as acid rain hundreds or thousands of miles from the smokestacks emitting the gases. Class, what are some ways in which human activity have intruded or impacted the ecosystem? (Think about pesticides, pollution, etc. and explain HOW they impact the ecosystem.) The public health issue in my community that I am focusing on for my course project is drug use and addiction. In regards to the entire planet, my topic matters because it is an issue throughout the world that is progressively getting worse and is responsible for thousands of people losing their lives. Approximately 187,000 drug overdose deaths occur in the world each year. In the United States alone, more than 64,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2016. This number has more than doubled over the last 10 years. It is not only affecting adults, but it is also tragically affecting our youth as young as 12 years old. If something isn’t done to try to prevent drug abuse, the number of overdose deaths will likely double again over the next 10 years. A global public health issue that I would be interested in focusing on is global warming and the extreme weather events that are becoming more common. It will take years for people and health systems to recover from the extreme storms that have occurred over the past year. The changing climate also has an effect on our air quality, agriculture, and human migration. I am interested in this topic because I recently visited an area that was devastated by Hurricane Harvey and saw the struggles that the city went through and is continuing to go through in order to rebuild their city. No matter who you are or where you live, global warming will have an effect on you. I believe that global warming and weather patterns will also be the most pressing global public health issue that we will be facing 50 years from now. If we don’t start taking care of our planet, global warming will destroy it. Health systems around the world need to be built with resilience to be able to provide services in the event of these devastating storms. References Sternberg, S. (2017). Drug overdose deaths continue to soar. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-12-15/drug-overdose-deaths-continue-to-soar