After completing your summer readings you should be more aware of environmental risks. What are some of the environmental risks that you read about? What do you think environmental justice is? How can maps help us see where injustice exists?
From my summer reading i gained a broader perspective on our environmental risks. One environmental risk that i learned about was the fact that plastic chemicals can double the rate of diabetes in women. These compounds are called phthalates and are found in many common house hold products.In a study conducted by Harvard scientists, it was found that African American and Hispanic women living in poverty were exposed to the highest levels of these compounds. In relation to statistics, African Americans have 77% higher chance of getting diabetes than White americans; Hispanics have 66% higher chance than that of whites people. Other topics that i learned about was the debate over wether or not Hydraulic fracturing has an effect on health. One study proved that hydraulic fracturing releases benzene, which is a known carcinogen. However, the debate still continues. The EPA defines environmental justice as a collaborative effort of all people (regardless of race) to help enforce environmental laws and other policies. To me, environmental justice means that everyone, regardless of social status, should participate in helping preserve the environment through various projects and social events. Maps such as the various map of food deserts as well as statistical surveys help us see the various forms of food justice, by showing a certain trend in demographical, ethical, or social factors. These maps and graphs can help us by allowing us to pinpoint the areas that need help in developing more environmentally aware policies.
From my research, I learned that red meat raises substantially the risk of cancer or heart disease death, how obesity has doubled between 1980 and 2008 in the United States, and about what really causes heart disease. Out of the three articles that I chose, I found that the most interesting one was about heart disease. A heart surgeon with 25 years of experience and who has performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries has spoke out and said that the long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes. 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. More Americans will die this year because of the extensive medication that we are taking that causes inflammation that traps our cholesterol. I believe that environmental justice is not just about protecting the environment and what surrounds us, but also protecting ourselves and our health. The United States is fortunate enough to have enough doctors disposable to the people but maps and graphs will show that other countries have higher health problems than us.
From my summer reading, I read that the air quality in the U.S has become so bad that it may slowly be killing us. In Utah, the air quality has become so bad that it has been sending people to the hospital. Studies from earlier this year revealed that even short-term exposure to "safe" levels of pollutions bring immediate risks of heart attack and stroke. I also read that pesticides and herbicides not proven completely safe pose a huge threat of being very dangerous. Back in the 1960s, the U.S. dropped 20 million gallons of a chemical called Agent Orange. Agent Orange was meant to defoliate the forest canopies hiding Viet Cong troops. The U.S. told farmers in the areas where Agent Orange was going to be dropped that it wouldn't harm humans or animals. Chemical companies warned the U.S. that Agent Orange was potentially harmful. Ignoring the chemical companies' warnings, the U.S dropped Agent Orange over parts of Vietnam. Agent Orange proved to be very harmful, causing around 150,000 birth defects and untold cancers. I think that environmental justice is an effort by people to preserve the environment. Everyone should help upkeep the environment through laws and policies. Maps help show injustice by pointing out exactly where injustice occurs and how severe injustice is in each area on the map.
After researching environmental health articles, I learned that the amount of greenhouse gases has increased dramatically by only one company. If each natural gas producing company's greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, the global warming issue in the world will because an even bigger threat. The figures that were shown illustrated the dramatic increase of emissions. Also, the amount of carbon the atmosphere has absorbing will soon reach its limit, also contributing the the global warming issue arising in the world. This will seriously affect the environment such as the ocean, animals, forests, etc. I also learned that every year, the average temperature increases by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have proven that Global Warming IS real, and it won't be long until the atmosphere has reached its limit of carbon absorption. In conclusion, Carbon has been the biggest issue that the atmosphere has been facing so far. The carbon curve has given the scientists the best match after everything they have tried. With that being said, I believe that the human race should, in all of its ability, try their best in doing what is best for the environment. Environmental justice should be exercised daily. Whether it be commuting without emitting gas in the air, or recycling. Do your part. The figures that were shown in the articles were helpful because they illustrated the rising issues in the environment. It offered a visual approach, making it easier to realize what is happening to the world.
For the summer reading, I read about the exposure of a chemical known as PFOA in the Ohio River. This chemical is very dangerous to kids which can cause thyroid disease. Tests were taken from 10,000 different kids from the ages of 1 to 17 to see whether or not the children were inflicted with this terrible disease. The disease can affect many functions in the body much like metabolism and brain development. Adults were also tested to see if the level of PFOA in their system was high. However, the adults that were apart of the study lived further down the Ohio River. They had a PFOA reading that was 20 times the norm of the US population. The meaning of environmental justice is to help keep the community we live in safe for everyone. No littering signs is an example of environmental justice because we want to keep the parks and local areas clean for the benefit of those going to the parks to enjoy. By having a set of rules such as the one mentioned above, would improve the cleanliness of the world around us. Maps are helpful in finding where injustice exists due to the previous research on where it's located. By having a map in hand, citizens can change the injustice in the community and make the location a safer place.
From my summer reading, I read that the pollution taking place in our environment is killing our aquatic life especially. Even though the jellyfish are saved, the other poor creatures that eat plastic bags have a painful death. The plastic bags that are thrown in ocean water's appear to be jellyfish and a source of food for turtles. Hence, they eat, digest, and suffer from it. According to the article, it can take 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose, but by putting it in water we are extending that time and killing aquatic life. Also, 40% of autopsies show that Turtles are digesting at least 1 or more plastic bags in their digestive tracks, not allowing the further digestion of other food particles! Not only turtles, but other aquatic animals like whales intake these plastic bags. Another study shows that over 100,000 aquatic creatures are killed yearly due to the toxic, plastic bags. Not only do plastic bags effect the aquatic creatures, but it also effects creatures in the wildlife, like Flamingos. These innocent birds are able to get stuck in these bags easily, but getting out is like a mission impossible for them. Causing suffocation and a painful slow death. One study shows that Americans, throw away over 100 billion bags per year. Even the strongest of animals like the Crocodile, die a painful death as they swallow these bags. A study once conducted in 2008, shows that a crocodile had 25 plastic bags in his stomach. This shows that the people of the world should preserve our wildlife and our oceans by not throwing plastic bags in restricted areas. Also, people could switch to more eco-friendly methods to avoiding plastic bags. Our environment is in our hands and it is our future, so we must avoid throwing any toxic material in our wildlife and oceanic areas. In my opinion, environmental justice is the protection of our environment and that everybody of all ethnicities, races, and cultures must come together to protect our nature. The data above shows the importance of avoiding pollution and cleaning our natural environments so we can enjoy our wildlife. Maps hold an important value in our society because they plot out the area of research. Making stricter rules on areas that have higher statistical data pointing towards pollution could be a start to a massive change.
The statistical information above was taken from : http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Effect-Plastic-Bags-Have-on-the-Death-of-Wildlife&id=3948365
I obtained a number of articles on environmental justice and, in almost all of them, found a common theme of people being at some sort of disadvantage based on factors or circumstance outside of their control, the main factor being socioeconomic status and its derivatives. When comparing life expectancies between adults with different race and education levels, the most highly educated white men live about 14 years longer than the least educated black men, and the least educated black women live about 10 years less than the most educated white woman. In Cook County, residents of communities with no supermarkets were found to be 25-46% less likely to have a healthy diet compared to residents who do, even when controlling for variables like sex, race, and age. Additionally, the life expectancy difference between residents with access to these places versus those who don't ranges from 12-14 years. Finally, in New York City, children living in the poorest households were almost twice as likely to ever be diagnosed with asthma as those living in the wealthiest households (15% to 8%) and the rates of child asthma-related emergency department visits were three times higher in the poorest neighborhoods than in the wealthiest. All these statistics reveal a startling balance in quality of life based on wealth, or things that come from wealth, such as education. In a more literal sense, those who live near hydraulic fracturing sites face a severe risk of water pollution, with a conservative estimate in one location being compared to "a few thousand Olympic-sized swimming pools." Environmental justice means keeping both nature and our society a better place. What does better mean? Cleaner. Safer. Healthier. And with more fairness.
In my summer reading, I read about the cancer worries in Hanover, Massachusetts. Residents and town officials were worried that cancer rates were higher than expected because of a contaminated site of an old munitions factory in the town, but the state disagrees. The state believes that the contaminated munition factory has nothing to do with the high cancer rates. The Department of public health looked into the rates of bladder, urinary, thyroid, and prostate cancer in the residents of hanover from 2003 to 2008. They concluded that there was nothing unusual in the cancer rates. But in 2007 residents requested a more in-depth study to find a link between the high thyroid cancer rates and perchlorate, a chemical commonly used in explosives. The results showed that between 1999 and 2003, the rates of thyroid cancer in women were more than 4 times the expected rate, which was 9 cases when only 2 were expected. I think environmental justice is being aware of what you are doing and being sure that you aren't putting anyone's health, or the environment, in danger. Examples of environmental justice are recycling, taking public transport as often as you can, carpooling, etc. In this case, the munitions factory could have been better taken care of. Instead of blowing it up and releasing chemicals, it could have been taken down in a safe way. Maps can help us with injustice because they can show where the injustice is and how bad the dangers are.
Having taken CST last year, I have a general knowledge of environmental risks and how the U.S. (specifically the Bay Area) deals with it. Last year, my CST class developed an awareness of the benefits of organic foods and even growing your own garden! We learned that the food you eat actually affects the moods and emotions you experience, therefore it is beneficial to be mindful of your diet. Growing gardens both allow you to have fresh, organic food, and at the same time improve air quality in your surroundings. I believe that environmental justice is not limited to growing a garden or buying organic food in a supermarket; it also includes raising awareness against water pollution, air pollution, and wasteful behavior in general. For this summer assignment, I did some research on nationwide obesity, air quality, and pollution (air, water, etc.).
I learned that one's choice of vehicle can affect both air and water. For starters, highway vehicles, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, emit pollutants such as Carbon Monoxide (around 40,000 tons), nitrogen oxide (over 5000 tons), and ammonia (300 tons) among others. In fact, highway and off-road vehicle emissions account for around 60,000 out of the 80,000 tons of carbon monoxide emissions (to get perspective, however, in 1970 studies showed that around 200,000 tons were in the air!). Also, more oil is leaked and spilled into the ocean by leaking cars and other non-point sources than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez. Every year, around 14 billion pounds of garbage is dumped into the ocean every year (most of which is plastic), contributing to the yearly cost of $12.8 billion for the global economy, not to mention the death and disease that come with it. Sea birds and other mammals, counting in the hundred thousands, are affected and killed by such pollution each year. Fish are also affected by ocean waste, for example, after Japan dumped radioactive waste (2 million gallons) into the Pacific Ocean, fish 50 miles away were reported to have become radioactive.
Environmental justice would include appropriate responses to such actions. It would extend further than just awareness, and also provide solutions. Statistics of air pollution over the decades have shown that the U.S. is actually improving through the years. Our nation's potential, however, is still questionable. Over one third of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are obese, and other sources report that the average American throws away four pounds of garbage a day, and in many cases garbage will end up in the ocean. Environmental justice should help us address society's nature of high consumption and high wastefulness. Maps in particular can provide helpful information on how the economy and certain areas are more susceptible to environmental harm (whether through food deserts or poverty-related reasons). We can get an idea of how different parts of our nation have certain characteristics that are more typical of behavior that yields more pollution, and find out ways to replace bad practices with good ones.
For my summer reading, I found an article about the the increasing amount of carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere due mostly to human activity. Thanks to fossil fuel combustion, carbon dioxide emissions are growing rapidly. The total carbon emissions by human activities since 1959 to date is around 350 billion metric tons. However, the Earth is absorbing twice as much as it was 50 years ago, around 180 billion metric tons, which is a good thing. For now, anyway. Although Earth is still absorbing about half of the greenhouse gases emitted by people, it is projected that the natural sinks of carbon dioxide might not be able to keep up with the increasing rate of emissions. While about half of the carbon emissions are removed from the atmosphere, the other half, around 150 billion metric tons, still linger. This accumulation is likely to speed up global warming. In addition, the absorbing of carbon by the oceans and ecosystems is projected to slow down gradually. Although currently there is not a big issue with Earth's carbon absorption, it is crucial that we find out ways to decrease the amount of carbon we emit because it greatly affects the future. The Earth won't be able to catch up with the amount of carbon emitted soon enough, and if we don't act soon, the climate will not be able to adapt enough to be safe for us to live in.
A major environmental risk I read about was the usage and dangers of mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin and a pollutant. Mercury pollution spreads from industrial activities across the globe and can end up in your local lake or in the fish you eat. This can be a serious health hazard, especially for children and pregnant women. Mercury travels through the world in three distinct ways. The first way is that it is actively traded as a global commodity, often for uses like artisanal and small-scale gold mining, where substantial releases to the environment are common. The second way mercury travels is airborne mercury released by industrial activities that can travel great distances before being deposited in waterways. For example, mercury released in Asia can circle the globe and enter American waterways when it rains. The third and last way mercury travels is once mercury enters a waterway, naturally occurring bacteria absorb it and convert it to its most toxic form, methyl mercury. Once it is converted, it then moves up the food chain into fish. The fish we eat comes from all over the world and have a high chance of having small hints of mercury in them. Stopping mercury pollution in the United States is not enough to protect the health of our kids and future generations. Mercury pollution is a global problem that needs a global solution fast. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that every year hundreds of thousands of American newborns are at risk for problems with fine motor skills and learning difficulties as a result of their mothers' fish consumption during pregnancy. New research also links mercury exposure with cardiovascular disease in adult men. Scientists continue to explore mercury and about additional health threats posed by mercury exposure. Environmental justice is the fair treatment the world deserves. Earth is shelter to billions of people and in return, we as citizens of Earth should try our best to keep the planet healthy and clean. Simple tasks such as recycling or not littering can help the planet greatly. Maps can help us see where environmental injustice exists because it points out the many places on Earth where there is a dark grayish cloud or the water around a certain amount of land is murky. This helps us know where we have to put more effort into keeping our planet green and clean.
After researching environmental health articles for my summer reading, I learned about 3 major issues that happen every single day and is effecting our planet bit by bit. The 3 major issues are air pollution, emissions of fossil fuels and deforestation. The article I read about focuses on the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah has one of the worst air pollution problems in the country and the impacts are horrifying as it is killing people. Air pollution has sent families and individuals to hospital emergency rooms due to having strokes and heart attacks. Asthma and respiratory diseases are slowly tightening peoples' lungs. But not just people are affected, but the atmosphere and oxygen take its toll also. The second article I read touched bases on the largest carbon emitters, with China being number 1 and the U.S. following right after. The chart shows China emitting about 2200-2300 metric tons of carbon in 2010. The use of fossil fuels are being used more and more every single year, which is one problem, and the chemicals that go in the air is another. The third and final article I read about talks about deforestation in the Amazon. But the thing about this article is that it shows the decline of deforestation in Brazing from it's peak in 1995 (nearing 30,000 sq km deforested) to about 6,000 sq km deforest in 2011. But deforestation takes away trees that provide oxygen for us, homes for various animals and overall an advantage for everyone. I think environmental justice is the act of saving our planet, one positive at a time. Just like justice in the court, environmental justice brings order to our natural world. Maps can help us see where injustice exists by showing what regions of the world has a certain issue and statistics of that certain region allows us to see where injustice exists.
- I learned about toxic chemicals in plastic and air pollution. Chemicals found in common household products were linked to higher rates of diabetes in women. Women in poverty, in particular, are exposed to the highest levels of these chemicals. In terms of air pollution, I found one article that shed some light on the impoverished community in North Richmond, California near the Chevron refinery. Although the low-income residents are able to find affording housing in this area, they pay the price in poor health. These residents often find themselves sharing a fence line with a refinery. The people of Richmond live within 5 oil refineries, 3 chemical plants, 8 Superfund sites, and dozens of other toxic waste sites. Richmond's residents are at a high risk of dying from heart disease and strokes and more likely to go the hospitals for asthma than other county residents. Sandy Saeturn, a community organizer, recalls her experience at an elementary school, across a parkway and railroad tracks from the Chevron refinery, "The teacher sent us indoors, and gave us paper napkins to put over our mouths and noses, then loaded us into school buses. We were driven around until it was supposedly safe to come back." Unfortunately, the many residents of North Richmond have little opportunity to move because of their state of poverty. The median income in North Richmond is $36,875 compared to Richmond's $54,012, which is still half of Contra Costa Count's $78,385. I also found another article that linked air pollution to heart attacks. Scientists found that short-term exposure to air pollutants was associated with an increase in heart attacks. If the residents of North Richmond are exposed for long-terms, their health is seriously at risk. - Environmental justice is the right for all people to have fair access to basic necessities, including a clean environment, healthy food, and job opportunities. Environmental justice calls on the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, meaning each person deserves respect. - Maps can help display data over an area. For example, this Food Desert map (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-desert-locator/go-to-the-locator.aspx) show communities were there is an insufficient access to healthy food. Most Food Deserts lie in low-income communities. A map like this one lets us see the injustice where residents are marginalized from the rest of the city.
The articles I read were centralized around air pollution. There were many events that factored into pollution levels, including the recent fire at the chevron refinery in Richmond. The focused on negativity you can feel, but there is some negativity you can see. For instance, ever since the refinery fire, gas prices have gone up an average of 23¢, however, money is not the only concern with all of the problems in the environment. These environmental disasters are sucker-punching our health. People with Asthma have been experiencing it much worse than any other asthma patients in the past. Also, the air conditions surrounding drill sites have been treated rather loosely as of late. These are all negative effects that could be nullified with the proper code restrictions, and have gone unchecked for years. All of this is the air that we breathe, so it is important that we do what we can to take care of it, and make sure that it stays as pure as it can possibly be.
In this article I learned about the environmental risks associated with drilling for more fossil fuels in the Arctic Circle. The company Shell wishes to continue operations there as the area holds an estimated 13% of the planet’s oil. Shell wants five wells somewhere north of Alaska to profit of this source of fuel. The major risk here is of course oil spills. Those against Shell’s decision are afraid that the company does not have the necessary emergency plans for such a disaster. Also another major risk is the lack of profit—a few decades ago similar wells were created in this area but without much economic gain. One other factor against Shell is the disruption of wildlife up there as offshore drilling can endanger the water quality and imbalance the ecosystem.
Environmental justice is what I think is best for the environment and not for us humans. We cannot exploit the resources of this planet too heavily or else in the future those exploitations will have consequences. Governments have to keep the health of the environment in mind as companies take big projects to gather such resources. Maps can show us where injustice exists by monitoring areas where there is such exploitation of the environment.
I learn that exposure to a lot of environmental contaminants has shown to be link to many human diseases like infectious diseases, cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems and low birth weight in infants . There has been an increased in the number of deaths in the U.S but mortality rates have declined. There has been studies done on Lead Blood exposure but the levels are declining. However child between the age of one and five still remain the most at risk and have the highest Blood lead levels. Also over the past decade the exposure to second hand smoke and decreased greatly. When compare age and race groups to diseases and health issues. They found that white children between the ages 0-18 have higher rates of cancer then when compared to African Americans. They also notice that Childhood asthma has increase about 4% between the yea 1980-1996 however The rates have not increase since 1997. According to data from 2006 about 1 in 8 Americans has been diagnosed with asthma. It is seen that Asthma is more dominated in the African and Native American communities as apposed to the Hispanic and whites. Even though these studies can help us find insight we are still not quite sure on the role it has with environmental contaminant exposures. I think more studies should be done so we can have a better picture of what the environment does to our health. Once we know what major contaminates are we can find away to reduce the exposure. Maps can help show us were there is a higher concentration of a certain contaminant. We could us those maps to help pen point common health problems in that area that might be because of the contaminant
After reading about environmental risks over the summer, the article I choose was based on air pollution in ozone levels. Ozone levels come from the many cars, power plants, and other pollutants that produce smog and contamination of the air we breathe. In this article, graphs were provided that showed the amount of days in a year a certain area had ozone levels above regulatory. In California, it revealed that we generally had less than 50 days of ozone levels a year above regulatory from studies conducted from the years 2001 to 2008. Then the graph broke it down more specifically showing the ozone levels in the counties in California. Based on that graph I was able to see that Southern California had around 50 and above days in a year of ozone levels above regulatory. One cause of this could also be the fact that Southern California is a lot of desert, and the higher the temperature, the higher the ozone level is above regulatory. However, in Northern California, it showed that we had 10 or less days of ozone levels above regulatory. Also in this article displayed a map of California and the counties within. This helped me to see in which counties had greater amount of days with ozone levels above regulatory and to compare it with other counties in California who maybe had a lower amount of days. There are many ways to help prevent these high number of days in which ozone levels are high. Some ways include finding other ways of transportation and not using your car so mush. Other ways include using more safe household items that don’t affect the environment. Together we can help take care of the Earth and the people in it.
I did some research on hydraulic fracturing(or fracking). Hydraulic fracking is the method used to release natural gases and petroleum from the earth's surface. However, the process causes water to be contaminated with radioactive substances and high levels of salts. The waste has been disposed in a place called Marcellus Shale, in New York and spans to West Virginia. It is where untapped natural gases are stored and other toxic waste. The fracturing fluids there are starting to pollute industrial rivers and streams, which is harmful to factories because of the high levels of radioactive substances and salts. Researchers are trying to find a way to reduce the levels of waste water by changing their methods of fracturing--perhaps by using nitrogen based substances or converting gas into liquid to make separation of water and waste easier. Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120806093929.htm I also read about food deserts. Food deserts are locations throughout the United States and throughout the world where market food is not abundant and hardly available to people living in the area. The article I read was about a fix to food deserts throughout the U.S. Starting in Oakland, California, there were ecofriendly, solar powered food trucks that drove around, acting as a one aisle grocery store. The idea spread to other cities such as Kansas City and Baton Rouge. Not only are these grocery food trucks are providing food to places where it is scarce, it is providing healthy foods such as high quality fruit and vegetables at good, affordable prices, which is great for low income communities. Source: healthland.time.com/2012/07/24/can-pop-up-grocery-stores-solve-the-problem-of-food-deserts/
During the summer reading, I learned about the whale hunting was still going on by some countries in the world. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it had achieved their goal and stopped whaling in the Southern Ocean, but Japan just moved elsewhere. Hunting whales for research purposes is allowed but Japan used to profit from it. Once research statistics shows that Japan keeps selling everything catching. According to the imformation, the Nisshin Maru and two harpoon ships expanded on a "research mission" to the Pacific Northwest four months after they left the Southern Ocean. Their target is 260 whales including 100 minkes of which says to be used for stomach content and DNA analysis. In 2011, over 3,500 whales were caught between Japan, Norway, Iceland and Denmark's, Faroe Islands. Whales are our friends, whales hunting is merciless, also it destorys ecological balance in some ways. People shoulld really do something effectively to protect whales.
In my summer reading I learned that in Africa a species of penguins called Spheniscus is slowly disappearing from the face of the Earth due to the fact that their food source is being depleted either by commercial fishing or by global warming which forces the fish to move farther south while the penguins cannot move from their location. Some years the population of the penguins have dropped more than 25% and there is less than 120,000 Spheniscus penguins currently. This is indeed environmental injustice because for our own pleasure and luxery we have forced a species to go on the brink of extinction and it's not just these penguins too but other species of animals have suffered like Polar Bears, Sea Turtles and other life around the globe. People need to see that if we don't stop what we're doing and help these creatures, we'll lose the Earth too. It's not just about them, it's also about us. They go, and all the food chain and eventual we go too, so people better step up and help protect these wildlife species so future generations can live here on Earth comfortably too.
I read articles about central asia and the nuclear power plants they have, and the impact they are having in an environment. Many people know of the environmental impact of Nuclear power plants, with their long term cause for disease, it is more evident now then ever before that we as a nation must keep our nuclear plants as contained as possible. Future defects are known to be cancers of all kinds, as well as radiation which would give people lesions and birth defects for years to come. What most people do not know is that Kazakhstan's citizens have been debating whether or not they should create a nuclear power plant, after Japans horrific incident in Fukushima. Moral laws must be put in place to prevent future horrific causes in the future.
From my summer reading, I was able to go more in depth on how polluted earth is. Through the years, air pollution has become a huge topic and many people are now trying to find solutions. Although the Environmental Protection Agency wanted to reconsider limiting mercury or other toxins released from by power plants, it was overturned by the Senate. While the air we breathe is harmful, so can be the food we eat. For example, the Environmental Working Group does an annual report called "Dirty Dozen", which names fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residue. The most well know fruits are in the list such as apples, strawberries and even grapes are included in the list which consists of 12 fruits and vegetables. I was definitely surprised to find out about my favorite fruits being on this list. While pollution and pesticides are not the causations of diseases and cancer, there is a connection or rather a correlation to many sicknesses. Environmental justice starts with becoming educated about the environmental risks. After becoming educated, a person should analyze the problem and finally, a person should take action by educating others and finding solutions to the problem. Maps help us see the where the injustice takes place by explaining where the concentration of injustice is. If many people see where the injustice specifically takes place, it will be easier for people to call for a change and find a solution to the certain predicament.
From my summer reading, I have learned a lot about environmental risks. Particularly the effect it had on young children. These young children often exposed to chemicals in the air get diagnosed with ADHD. These children get exposed to this chemicals at birth and are easily affected. Smoking, Lead, Mercury, manganese,tobacco, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and pesticides are commonly result in ADHD with young children. Exposure to air pollution, (ozone and nitrogen oxides) also results in several problems and can cause infants to die at birth. Driving can also result in diseases with children including asthma. As a study done in Southern California shows, asthma declined by 42% during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta when the amount of driving was reduced greatly. Environmental Justice is keeping our environment a safe place. With a safe environment we can have a healthy lifestyle. Harmful substances in our environment can lead to death, but environmental justice should make this nearly impossible. Maps can help us learn what we need to fix and how we should fix this. For example if we know where there is a problem in the environment, as part of the community we can do something to change it.
In my summer article, I came across an article that had to deal with an E. coli outbreak that sickened 14 people in six different states. E. coli has been a sickness that often generated a lot of concern throughout the years. People throughout our country have always been scared of a potential outbreak that could create problems for doctors and humans alike. Cases have "been reported in Alabama (2), California (1), Florida (1), Georgia (5), Louisiana (4) and Tennessee (1), according to the CDC." Georgia was the state with the most cases (5). "Four of five are female, and their ages range from 18 to 52, with a median of 34. Illness onsets range from (April 15-28); one case was hospitalized overnight for this illness, and no cases have died," said Suleima Salgado, deputy director of communications for the Georgia Department of Public Health. The main environmental risk that found was that we come in contact with feces of humans or animals, the main cause of E. coli. Some people might think that would never happen, but feces and the very water we drink come in contact with one another many times. This tells me that we need to be careful what kind of water we drink. We need to make sure that the water is clean, and purified. I think environmental injustice is when some people aren't given the same environmental benefits and opportunities that other people are given. Maps are beneficial to us as they can provide us with data across the country or even the world. Maps can show us where environmental injustice happens, how we can stop or fix it, and how we can prevent it.
One of the most interesting summer articles described second-hand smoking, specifically focusing on the health effects related with tobacco carcinogens. Before reading the article, I assumed that second-hand smoking had to be done indoors or in a car for its chemicals to actually have effect on others not smoking. The article tries to prove that smoking is dangerous to other people around you even outdoors. With an increase in indoor smoking bans, more smokers are doing it outside restaurants and bars, raising health concerns for the people around them. In the author's words, "A recent study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that nonsmokers who visited outdoor restaurants and bars where smoking was allowed had elevated levels of tobacco-related chemicals in the body compared with people at a smoke-free control site. This is how the "study" or experiment was conducted. In August and September 2012, 28 students in Athens, Georgia spent 3 nights, 1 each at the outside patios of a bar and a family restaurant, and an open air site with no smokers. At the bar and restaurant, one of the students made sure to count the number of cigarettes lit every 10 minutes. They spent three hours at each site while taking a saliva and urine test before, after, and the morning after the 3 hour sessions. Levels of salivary cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, were distinctly higher in the tests done after and the morning after the bar and restaurant visits. Another significant number was that there were 4 times more cigarettes lit in the bar, than at the restaurant. Urine tests showed an increased concentration of NNAL, a chemical found in tobacco after the visit to the restaurant and especially the bar.
What do I think environmental justice is? I think that it is being able to maintain an overall good environment for the people living there and the nature surrounding them. When I say a good environment for people I mean healthy, safe and clean. Maps can help us see where injustice exists by showing what areas are more polluted than others, where people are more often getting sick than other areas, and maybe simply how green a place is.
In my summer reading I focused on how certain things like smoking and toxins can affect the things we eat and the air we breath. Even though not all of us smoke, second hand smoking causes high risk for some people. Second hand smoking can lead to a lung condition, which is the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. If the air we breathe is not mostly oxygen then the polluted air can cause holes in our lungs that later expand. An article from Salt lake City, Utah said that they have the worst air pollution in the country. Most of the younger and older people are suffering from respiratory diseases because of the lack of clean air. Another problem occurs with our intake of food, women who are pregnant and eat can food expose their unborn child to chemicals that lead to problems by the age of 3. Then 244 girls were tested and they found high levels of BPA in their children. BPA interferes with how hormones work in the body, and can block or change organs that may not develop normally. BPA can enter your frozen food, by warming up our food in the polycarbonate plastic the food comes in. Environmental justice all depends on perspective and how a person reacts to their environment. Most of this can all be avoided, as long as we all are educated on what makes things go wrong in the world. Pollution can be avoided by using less cars, second hand smoking can be avoided by leaving a smoker, and BPA transferred in food can be avoided by moving the food out of the plastic or eating more fresh food. The way we treat the environment and the way it treats us depends on us finding a solution to the problems. Maps can represent many things that help show us where injustice lies so that we can avoid it. If more people can note and see where injustice lies, we can all take part and help take care of that area so we can all live in a safe environment.
In my summer reading I learned many interesting things about the environmental risks, one of them being water contamination. Millions of Americans drink water that is contaminated with lead. The EPA knows about it, the state governments and local utilities know about it, but we the people don't always know about it. Lead is one of the most dangerous neurotoxins known to man. It can potentially damage the developing brain and nervous system, causing life-long learning disabilities and other serious problems. Lead has been removed from gasoline, children's toys, and paint, but for some reason they can't get it out of the water. EPA tried to replace the lead pipes, but the company was sued by the American Water Works Association, who claimed that EPA was trying to take control of the service lines and that they did not have the authority to replace the pipes on private property. In 2000, EPA was allowed to perform "partial pipe replacements" from the water main to the private property line. Homeowners would have to complete the pipe replacing themselves, but only a few have actually done so. I think environmental justice is involving everyone, not just a select few people, in activities that could improve the environment. For example, the EPA in my article wanted to replace all the lead pipes in the United States to save EVERYONE from lead poisoning. If they hadn't been sued by that major company, they would have succeeded in making our country a little safer. They were practicing environmental justice. Environmental injustice would be if the EPA only decided to replace the pipes from only the rich people, or only a certain race of people. Maps help us see certain areas from an arial view. Some maps can point out where certain things are, like a certain city or country. If there was a map that showed areas where injustice is, we could pinpoint exactly where a certain area is and try to fight the injustice. It could help us all live in a better place.
One of the articles I chose to write about discussed the exploitation of resources from the earth. In this specific article, drilling was mostly discussed. Because of Obama's administration, regarding drilling, it has declined 39% since 2008. But now, since resources are still awfully low, especially since the beginning of the recession, drilling may resume and even be done exponentially more often, mainly in the west. I also read about air pollutants and how there are so many different factors adding to the pollution in the air. I used to think that air pollution was limited to exhaust from fuel-based products. After reading, I discovered that pollution in the air comes from power plants, vehicles, war equipment, nitrogen oxide, and other chemicals (manmade and natural). I think environmental justice is justice that regards keeping the earth green and healthy, and not exploiting it constantly how we do now. Maps can show up places that are not as enriched with resources, causing them to overuse or completely use up resources in their area, polluting and de-greening the environment.
In my summer readings, I learned mostly about air pollution and its effect. I read especially about it's effect on Utah. Air pollution is getting so bad that it is slowly killing us. Because of air pollution, there are reports of heart attacks and strokes. Many families, old and young people are being sent to hospital emergency rooms because of air pollution. The air pollution causes serious lung diseases which causes heavy coughing and wheezing. Asthma is one of the most common results of air pollution. Asthma effects a majority of the young children, while also effecting everyone else. There are many sources of where the air pollution is coming from. In a pie graph shown on the source about the sources of air pollution in Utah, it states: 8% from households, 17% from commercial, 20% from a large industry, and 55% from cars and trucks. Most importantly I learned that air pollution is one of the most important crisis in America, causing over 2,000+ deaths each year. Air pollution also takes off two years of a person's life.
For my summer reading, I researched the correlation between socioeconomic status and asthma prevalence, specifically in young adults. I actually didn’t know what “socioeconomic” meant, but really, it just means how social and economic factors interact. It turns out that young adults that are in lower socioeconomic groups have higher asthma prevalence. There are many reasons that asthma is linked to the state of the surrounding community—air pollution, physical and psychological demands of living in a deprived environment, exposure to poverty, and community beliefs and practices, among other reasons. A similar article also mentioned that older men are more often diagnosed with asthma than any gender in any age group. This is because of the working conditions that younger men often have to work in, causing them to develop asthma and wheezing later on in their lives.
In one of my summer reading articles I read about pollution contributing to the effects health in Utah. Many people in Utah have asthma due to the pollution and the pollution causes extreme heat in addition to the unclean air which makes it heard to breath. Also, the pollution contributes the thinning out and deterioration of the O-Zone layer. This causes the temperature to become higher. 55% of the pollution in Utah came from cars and trucks. I think that environment justice is ways how we can help the environment from becoming clean and stopping it from becoming dirty. An environmental justice is being eco-friendly. Environmental injustices can be shown on maps that show areas high in heat throughout the years because usually the higher the heat throughout the years, the more pollution was created and contributed to the harm of the environment.
The articles i have read over the summer mainly involve the use of technology and its relationship with pollution. To summarize: One obvious example would be the use of the automobile. As us humans thrive into more advance civilizations there are certain factors that need to be noticed. To gain a benefit for our own, it must be taken away from something else. Using the automobile may save us time with transportation, but it does not save the Earth anything for itself. Studies have recorded and shown that the amount of pollution from vehicles all around the world increase with equilibrium to the growth of population. The amount of pollution is one thing, but its effect can deteriorate the natural habitats in which we live in and neglect to look after. In general, vehicles emit Particulate Matter, which are tiny particles that can enter human lungs from smog, Hydrocarbons, which can irritate the respiratory system, Carbon monoxide, poisonous gas that is created with the combustion fossil fuels, and also Sulfur Dioxide, some of which is created burning sulfer-related fuels such as diesel which can affect children with asthma and worsen their current health. Also, To fix these predicaments environmental justice must take its course. Environmental Justice is not just providing the idea of cleaning the world nor is it just a choice, it is the responsibility of the human race to look after its own actions and consequences as it affects the very ground and air that we stand on and breathe in. The use of maps showing percentages of heavily concentrated pollution can guide people to make them focus on priorities such as countries that are in a more polluted area than the U.S.
From my summer readings I read about a cancer-causing toxin called Aflatoxin that is found in baby formula in China. They were found in boxes and tins that weighed between 400 and 900 grams. This is only one of the many food safety problems that have befallen China. In 2008, at least 6 babies died and over 300,000 became sick due to melanine tainted milk powder. This is one of several risks that I read about. Though it's not really environmental, there are many people this affects, putting infants at risk of getting cancer. I think environmental justice is mainly taking care of the environment. We are all responsible for the environment, and we can blame no one but ourselves for mistreating it. Maps can help us see where injustice is because through looking at maps, you can see many areas that are forlorn. A lot of forsaken areas that we can find on maps are like that because they are a most likely bad place to live in. It's up to us to take care of the environment, and make these places good to live in.
In my summer reading, my articles mainly focused on the public health and how environmental risks are harmful to the health of the public. I learned about the harmful effects of air pollution and how antioxidants can help reduce this. It mainly focuses on how keeping a healthy diet can protect you against the common health threat of air pollution. In this article it talks about a study that some researchers experiment through to see "if individual levels of antioxidants and related genetic markers would protect against harm from oxidative stress imposed by particulate air pollution." In result, those with low levels of vitamin C are more susceptible to the harmful effects of air pollution. It mainly focused on improving the public health, but the air pollution is something to be of concern towards the public health and keeping people healthy. Another concern to public health is the combination of heat and heart disease. Currently there is an expected rise in temperature with a warm climate, and although the heat doesn't affect everyone's health, but those diagnosed with a congestive heart failure have more problems and are more prone to the warmer climate and have an increased risk of death, heat stroke, heat exhaustion and hospital admissions. So researchers did an extensive study between the association between temperature and the changes in heart disease on those who were diagnosed with any kind of heart problems. As a result, the higher the temperature, the higher risk for patients with heart failure problems. Elevated temperature can trigger heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems in people being treated for heart disease. In the end those with heart failure risk should avoid high temperatures, but the studies did help to prove that high temperatures can be harmful for those with heart failure problems. The last article focused on Environment, Health, and Safety reducing energy consumption, emissions and safety issues. By doing this, business will rise, and the environment will be kept cleaner and safer from any kind of harmful pollutions. In my opinion, I think that environmental justice is all about finding ways to keep the environment safer for our communities and beneficially the world. Maps are important in showing us the injustice because it would give us a visual on what exactly is wrong so we can get an idea of what it is we need to actually fix these problems.
For the summer reading, i found information on death and heart disease. There are about 793.8 deaths for every 100,000 people. The leading cause of death according to FASTSTATS is heart disease. Even though there are multiple different types of heart disease they seem to be the most harmful. One interesting thing that i learned is that there are more African Americans dying of heart attacks in the US then there are Hispanics, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Environmental justice is treating each and every person the same, whatever their race, ethnicity, color, or income is. By following this rule we are able to keep our community safe for everyone. An example of environmental justice is, at schools when you see a mix of all races, ethnicities. This shows that there is and equal opportunity for each person.
For my summer reading, I focused on the phenomenon known as food deserts. I read a number of articles explaining what exactly a food desert was. Basically its an area where proper fresh food isn’t readily available because of any of a number of socioeconomic factors. These areas are often city areas where food is more accessible to get at the local convenience store, gas station, or liquor store than a proper grocery store. In one article, it went in detail about the struggles of the city of Detroit to keep a major grocery chain in the city. On top of economic factors, the geographic location of many cities makes access to fresh products near impossible. I learned that environmental justice is a fair and even distribution of all environmental benefits. This is the exact problem in food deserts. These areas don’t have access to fresh food that other towns close by may have. A lack of healthy food can lead to many health problems within a food desert; obesity, diabetes, malnutrition, and hunger. The collaborative project between CST and AP STATS last year is a step in the right direction. If that could be increased to a larger scale, from small gardens to large farms or grocery stores and from our local community to the national scale, great strides could be made to rid the nation of food deserts. If we took it even further, one article said it’d cost about 13 billion dollars to satisfy basic food requirements worldwide. 13 billion. That’s how much America and Western Europe spends on cologne and perfume in a year. Ending world hunger at the price of your favorite perfume. Clearly it’s not a question of if its possible but rather are people willing to make it happen.
For this assignment, I focused on air pollution in the environment and how it could potentially worsen over the next forty years. In several articles I read, the pollution in the air will steadily climb, significantly increasing the number of premature deaths due to the severity. It is estimated that if these trends continue, “exposure to particulate matter” could potentially be the reason for 3.6 million premature deaths. That number is double would it currently is and would centralize in Asian countries, most likely. It is predicted that China and India would experience the most deaths from these causes, but other areas would be affected too. Currently, some countries are beyond what the World Health Organization feels is the safe level of pollution. Additional affects could include diseases caused by chemical pollution from up-and-coming less organized countries. This paired with the overall increase in air pollution will serve to cause many negative health effects and will continue to exponentially worsen as years pass and urban waste increases.
From the summer reading, some of the environmental risks I learned about were environmental toxins like pollution from coal-fired factories and vehicle emissions. These toxins were in the air and when people were exposed to a highly concentrated area they were becoming sick. The problem was there was nothing anybody could really do about the poor air quality and even if the government ordered any factories or nearby sources of pollution to cease production, the air that already exists would still remain contaminated and the facilities would still be emitting these toxins into the air. I think environmental injustice has to do with the fact that not enough people are willing to put forth the funds and effort to create a healthier and more responsible environment. They know of the risks they are creating and yet they do not care enough to stop it. Maps can help pinpoint where injustice occurs by showing levels of toxins in the air and coding it to how highly concentrated it is. A map can also display how many people in the populous are being affected by known environmental risks and at what rate.
One of the article I chose talked about pollution in the Big Apple, New York City. A substance called black carbon which is used to indicate pollution by construction and low quality gas. it is a fine particle that have big impacts on the heart and respiratory system, and can penetrate deeply into your lungs. Because of the growing rate of black carbon, neighborhoods where more of it are found are experiencing and noticing that their children are at a higher risk for asthma. This article only speaks of one of hundreds of environmental risks around New York City. Something we need to help with is how to control and eliminate these risks. i believe that environmental justice is the process of planning and following through the plans to eliminate or at least lower these risks that are now effecting more people. A map could also be very helpful with this process, it would help us find the higher rates in each location which would allow for more proficient plans to lower the risks.
Over the summer, I read a few articles about the radiation levels in Japan as an aftermath from the earthquakes and nuclear threats. It turns out that despite the earthquake being over a year ago, the radiation levels are still rising and falling indefinitely. For example, radiation often dissolves and dissipates into the atmosphere with no problems at all, but somehow some radiation still gets trapped on the human, breathable surface. For example, recently, the city of Fukushima was tested for radiation. One-third of the residents were diagnosed with cesium poisoning as a result of the unstable radiation levels in the area. If people did research to figure out how to dispel and ward off the radiation, maybe the number of victims would fall drastically.
During the summer, I researched a lot on environmental risks mainly focuses on the Richmond fire health claims that poured in after the Chevron blaze. After this blaze, hundreds of Richmond residents made legal claims that the refinery fire that hit the region's air for hours sent more than 4,000 people to seek medical care for breathing problems and irritated eyes. Later on thousands more made similar claims throughout the week calling the Chevron hotline after Monday's explosion and fire at its Richmond refinery. A total of 3,800 people made claims through Friday afternoon because of the air pollution in Richmond. This article showed that one explosion/fire caused more than thousands to have health issues due to air pollutions, image the daily explosions and fires we have around the world and the thousands more that are affected by this health hazard. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District still continues to investigate the fire's effect on the region's air quality, hopefully this investigations will be done to determine the cause of effects of the Richmond refinery fire. Another article I read over the summer was about the State health department who urges people to take precautions to reduce the risk of contracting West Nile virus, a mosquito borne illness. People should use insect repellent when outdoors and avoid going outside at dusk and dawn. This article shows that environmental issues in some parts of the world really effect the way people live their daily lives. This issue is very serious because there are no medications to treat or vaccines to prevent West Nile virus infection. In my opinion, I feel like finding environmental justice is through trying to make the environment safer for the daily living for the people in our world and also to educate others about the dangers of air pollutions & viruses such as the ones mentioned in the articles I've talked about above. Maps can point out where the certain areas around the world show injustice, you can use the maps to fight the injustice and help with making the world's environment a better place for humankind.
From my summer reading, I've read about the effect of water and sanitation. I found out that many factors affect water and sanitation. According to the World Health Organization, the transmission routes for infections are complex and thus contribute to the complexity of prevention. I found out that intervention can reduce the diarrhoeal incidence by a 25% and child mortality by 65%. This marks the importance of the safety of water supply as it can prevent mentioned outcomes. It further expands on the presence of dangerous chemicals, especially in ground water. Surprisingly, fluoride and arsenic naturally occur in groundwater. The consumption of these chemicals can cause serious health effects that are irreversible. This puts children at most risk. This event is occurring worldwide in developing and non-developed countries.
The concept of environmental justice is broad as it can range from what people should do about it to how we should be reacting to the risks present in the environment. Environmental justice can be when the people take action in order to reduce the number of risks for the good of public health. However, the measures that the people may take may harm the environment if the plan calls for destructive measures. Therefore, environmental justice is a delicate and complex concept that requires thought.
On the other hand, maps is a graphic way to show injustice in any area. By the same token, the data on the maps must be from a reliable source. The definition of injustice around the world varies, and one should take account of that.
For my summer reading I read about the Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the lowest every recorded. The extent of the low sea ice used to be 1.61 sq miles but now it is 1.58m sq miles. Over the past 30 years, the minimum records of the sea ice had a overall inclination and in the last three decades, 13% decline per decade in summer has occurred. The sea ice has become so very thin now. In 1980s 40% of its thickness has been lost and now the thickness is only 30% of what it was in the 80s. In this acceleration rate, the prediction of scientists that in 2015 the Arctic will be ice-free seems becoming truth. The increase of the sea water brings potential danger to the safety of human. I think environment justice means our obligation to protect the environment as members of the great nature, not the masters, during human's development. Maps can help us see the problems which are happening out there somewhere we might not have been aware of, and realize the seriousness of problem we are going through right now.
From my summer reading i gained a broader perspective on our environmental risks. One environmental risk that i learned about was the fact that plastic chemicals can double the rate of diabetes in women. These compounds are called phthalates and are found in many common house hold products.In a study conducted by Harvard scientists, it was found that African American and Hispanic women living in poverty were exposed to the highest levels of these compounds. In relation to statistics, African Americans have 77% higher chance of getting diabetes than White americans; Hispanics have 66% higher chance than that of whites people. Other topics that i learned about was the debate over wether or not Hydraulic fracturing has an effect on health. One study proved that hydraulic fracturing releases benzene, which is a known carcinogen. However, the debate still continues. The EPA defines environmental justice as a collaborative effort of all people (regardless of race) to help enforce environmental laws and other policies. To me, environmental justice means that everyone, regardless of social status, should participate in helping preserve the environment through various projects and social events. Maps such as the various map of food deserts as well as statistical surveys help us see the various forms of food justice, by showing a certain trend in demographical, ethical, or social factors. These maps and graphs can help us by allowing us to pinpoint the areas that need help in developing more environmentally aware policies.
ReplyDeleteFrom my research, I learned that red meat raises substantially the risk of cancer or heart disease death, how obesity has doubled between 1980 and 2008 in the United States, and about what really causes heart disease. Out of the three articles that I chose, I found that the most interesting one was about heart disease. A heart surgeon with 25 years of experience and who has performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries has spoke out and said that the long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes. 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. More Americans will die this year because of the extensive medication that we are taking that causes inflammation that traps our cholesterol. I believe that environmental justice is not just about protecting the environment and what surrounds us, but also protecting ourselves and our health. The United States is fortunate enough to have enough doctors disposable to the people but maps and graphs will show that other countries have higher health problems than us.
ReplyDeleteFrom my summer reading, I read that the air quality in the U.S has become so bad that it may slowly be killing us. In Utah, the air quality has become so bad that it has been sending people to the hospital. Studies from earlier this year revealed that even short-term exposure to "safe" levels of pollutions bring immediate risks of heart attack and stroke. I also read that pesticides and herbicides not proven completely safe pose a huge threat of being very dangerous. Back in the 1960s, the U.S. dropped 20 million gallons of a chemical called Agent Orange. Agent Orange was meant to defoliate the forest canopies hiding Viet Cong troops. The U.S. told farmers in the areas where Agent Orange was going to be dropped that it wouldn't harm humans or animals. Chemical companies warned the U.S. that Agent Orange was potentially harmful. Ignoring the chemical companies' warnings, the U.S dropped Agent Orange over parts of Vietnam. Agent Orange proved to be very harmful, causing around 150,000 birth defects and untold cancers.
ReplyDeleteI think that environmental justice is an effort by people to preserve the environment. Everyone should help upkeep the environment through laws and policies.
Maps help show injustice by pointing out exactly where injustice occurs and how severe injustice is in each area on the map.
After researching environmental health articles, I learned that the amount of greenhouse gases has increased dramatically by only one company. If each natural gas producing company's greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, the global warming issue in the world will because an even bigger threat. The figures that were shown illustrated the dramatic increase of emissions. Also, the amount of carbon the atmosphere has absorbing will soon reach its limit, also contributing the the global warming issue arising in the world. This will seriously affect the environment such as the ocean, animals, forests, etc. I also learned that every year, the average temperature increases by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have proven that Global Warming IS real, and it won't be long until the atmosphere has reached its limit of carbon absorption. In conclusion, Carbon has been the biggest issue that the atmosphere has been facing so far. The carbon curve has given the scientists the best match after everything they have tried. With that being said, I believe that the human race should, in all of its ability, try their best in doing what is best for the environment. Environmental justice should be exercised daily. Whether it be commuting without emitting gas in the air, or recycling. Do your part. The figures that were shown in the articles were helpful because they illustrated the rising issues in the environment. It offered a visual approach, making it easier to realize what is happening to the world.
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ReplyDeleteFor the summer reading, I read about the exposure of a chemical known as PFOA in the Ohio River. This chemical is very dangerous to kids which can cause thyroid disease. Tests were taken from 10,000 different kids from the ages of 1 to 17 to see whether or not the children were inflicted with this terrible disease. The disease can affect many functions in the body much like metabolism and brain development. Adults were also tested to see if the level of PFOA in their system was high. However, the adults that were apart of the study lived further down the Ohio River. They had a PFOA reading that was 20 times the norm of the US population.
ReplyDeleteThe meaning of environmental justice is to help keep the community we live in safe for everyone. No littering signs is an example of environmental justice because we want to keep the parks and local areas clean for the benefit of those going to the parks to enjoy. By having a set of rules such as the one mentioned above, would improve the cleanliness of the world around us.
Maps are helpful in finding where injustice exists due to the previous research on where it's located. By having a map in hand, citizens can change the injustice in the community and make the location a safer place.
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ReplyDeleteFrom my summer reading, I read that the pollution taking place in our environment is killing our aquatic life especially. Even though the jellyfish are saved, the other poor creatures that eat plastic bags have a painful death. The plastic bags that are thrown in ocean water's appear to be jellyfish and a source of food for turtles. Hence, they eat, digest, and suffer from it. According to the article, it can take 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose, but by putting it in water we are extending that time and killing aquatic life. Also, 40% of autopsies show that Turtles are digesting at least 1 or more plastic bags in their digestive tracks, not allowing the further digestion of other food particles! Not only turtles, but other aquatic animals like whales intake these plastic bags. Another study shows that over 100,000 aquatic creatures are killed yearly due to the toxic, plastic bags. Not only do plastic bags effect the aquatic creatures, but it also effects creatures in the wildlife, like Flamingos. These innocent birds are able to get stuck in these bags easily, but getting out is like a mission impossible for them. Causing suffocation and a painful slow death. One study shows that Americans, throw away over 100 billion bags per year. Even the strongest of animals like the Crocodile, die a painful death as they swallow these bags. A study once conducted in 2008, shows that a crocodile had 25 plastic bags in his stomach. This shows that the people of the world should preserve our wildlife and our oceans by not throwing plastic bags in restricted areas. Also, people could switch to more eco-friendly methods to avoiding plastic bags. Our environment is in our hands and it is our future, so we must avoid throwing any toxic material in our wildlife and oceanic areas. In my opinion, environmental justice is the protection of our environment and that everybody of all ethnicities, races, and cultures must come together to protect our nature. The data above shows the importance of avoiding pollution and cleaning our natural environments so we can enjoy our wildlife. Maps hold an important value in our society because they plot out the area of research. Making stricter rules on areas that have higher statistical data pointing towards pollution could be a start to a massive change.
ReplyDeleteThe statistical information above was taken from : http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Effect-Plastic-Bags-Have-on-the-Death-of-Wildlife&id=3948365
I obtained a number of articles on environmental justice and, in almost all of them, found a common theme of people being at some sort of disadvantage based on factors or circumstance outside of their control, the main factor being socioeconomic status and its derivatives. When comparing life expectancies between adults with different race and education levels, the most highly educated white men live about 14 years longer than the least educated black men, and the least educated black women live about 10 years less than the most educated white woman. In Cook County, residents of communities with no supermarkets were found to be 25-46% less likely to have a healthy diet compared to residents who do, even when controlling for variables like sex, race, and age. Additionally, the life expectancy difference between residents with access to these places versus those who don't ranges from 12-14 years. Finally, in New York City, children living in the poorest households were almost twice as likely to ever be diagnosed with asthma as those living in the wealthiest households (15% to 8%) and the rates of child asthma-related emergency department visits were three times higher in the poorest neighborhoods than in the wealthiest. All these statistics reveal a startling balance in quality of life based on wealth, or things that come from wealth, such as education.
ReplyDeleteIn a more literal sense, those who live near hydraulic fracturing sites face a severe risk of water pollution, with a conservative estimate in one location being compared to "a few thousand Olympic-sized swimming pools." Environmental justice means keeping both nature and our society a better place. What does better mean? Cleaner. Safer. Healthier. And with more fairness.
In my summer reading, I read about the cancer worries in Hanover, Massachusetts. Residents and town officials were worried that cancer rates were higher than expected because of a contaminated site of an old munitions factory in the town, but the state disagrees. The state believes that the contaminated munition factory has nothing to do with the high cancer rates. The Department of public health looked into the rates of bladder, urinary, thyroid, and prostate cancer in the residents of hanover from 2003 to 2008. They concluded that there was nothing unusual in the cancer rates. But in 2007 residents requested a more in-depth study to find a link between the high thyroid cancer rates and perchlorate, a chemical commonly used in explosives. The results showed that between 1999 and 2003, the rates of thyroid cancer in women were more than 4 times the expected rate, which was 9 cases when only 2 were expected.
ReplyDeleteI think environmental justice is being aware of what you are doing and being sure that you aren't putting anyone's health, or the environment, in danger. Examples of environmental justice are recycling, taking public transport as often as you can, carpooling, etc. In this case, the munitions factory could have been better taken care of. Instead of blowing it up and releasing chemicals, it could have been taken down in a safe way. Maps can help us with injustice because they can show where the injustice is and how bad the dangers are.
Having taken CST last year, I have a general knowledge of environmental risks and how the U.S. (specifically the Bay Area) deals with it. Last year, my CST class developed an awareness of the benefits of organic foods and even growing your own garden! We learned that the food you eat actually affects the moods and emotions you experience, therefore it is beneficial to be mindful of your diet. Growing gardens both allow you to have fresh, organic food, and at the same time improve air quality in your surroundings. I believe that environmental justice is not limited to growing a garden or buying organic food in a supermarket; it also includes raising awareness against water pollution, air pollution, and wasteful behavior in general. For this summer assignment, I did some research on nationwide obesity, air quality, and pollution (air, water, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI learned that one's choice of vehicle can affect both air and water. For starters, highway vehicles, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, emit pollutants such as Carbon Monoxide (around 40,000 tons), nitrogen oxide (over 5000 tons), and ammonia (300 tons) among others. In fact, highway and off-road vehicle emissions account for around 60,000 out of the 80,000 tons of carbon monoxide emissions (to get perspective, however, in 1970 studies showed that around 200,000 tons were in the air!). Also, more oil is leaked and spilled into the ocean by leaking cars and other non-point sources than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez. Every year, around 14 billion pounds of garbage is dumped into the ocean every year (most of which is plastic), contributing to the yearly cost of $12.8 billion for the global economy, not to mention the death and disease that come with it. Sea birds and other mammals, counting in the hundred thousands, are affected and killed by such pollution each year. Fish are also affected by ocean waste, for example, after Japan dumped radioactive waste (2 million gallons) into the Pacific Ocean, fish 50 miles away were reported to have become radioactive.
Environmental justice would include appropriate responses to such actions. It would extend further than just awareness, and also provide solutions. Statistics of air pollution over the decades have shown that the U.S. is actually improving through the years. Our nation's potential, however, is still questionable. Over one third of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are obese, and other sources report that the average American throws away four pounds of garbage a day, and in many cases garbage will end up in the ocean. Environmental justice should help us address society's nature of high consumption and high wastefulness. Maps in particular can provide helpful information on how the economy and certain areas are more susceptible to environmental harm (whether through food deserts or poverty-related reasons). We can get an idea of how different parts of our nation have certain characteristics that are more typical of behavior that yields more pollution, and find out ways to replace bad practices with good ones.
Sources: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html/
http://facts.randomhistory.com/pollution-facts.html
For my summer reading, I found an article about the the increasing amount of carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere due mostly to human activity. Thanks to fossil fuel combustion, carbon dioxide emissions are growing rapidly. The total carbon emissions by human activities since 1959 to date is around 350 billion metric tons. However, the Earth is absorbing twice as much as it was 50 years ago, around 180 billion metric tons, which is a good thing. For now, anyway.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Earth is still absorbing about half of the greenhouse gases emitted by people, it is projected that the natural sinks of carbon dioxide might not be able to keep up with the increasing rate of emissions. While about half of the carbon emissions are removed from the atmosphere, the other half, around 150 billion metric tons, still linger. This accumulation is likely to speed up global warming. In addition, the absorbing of carbon by the oceans and ecosystems is projected to slow down gradually.
Although currently there is not a big issue with Earth's carbon absorption, it is crucial that we find out ways to decrease the amount of carbon we emit because it greatly affects the future. The Earth won't be able to catch up with the amount of carbon emitted soon enough, and if we don't act soon, the climate will not be able to adapt enough to be safe for us to live in.
A major environmental risk I read about was the usage and dangers of mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin and a pollutant. Mercury pollution spreads from industrial activities across the globe and can end up in your local lake or in the fish you eat. This can be a serious health hazard, especially for children and pregnant women. Mercury travels through the world in three distinct ways. The first way is that it is actively traded as a global commodity, often for uses like artisanal and small-scale gold mining, where substantial releases to the environment are common. The second way mercury travels is airborne mercury released by industrial activities that can travel great distances before being deposited in waterways. For example, mercury released in Asia can circle the globe and enter American waterways when it rains. The third and last way mercury travels is once mercury enters a waterway, naturally occurring bacteria absorb it and convert it to its most toxic form, methyl mercury. Once it is converted, it then moves up the food chain into fish. The fish we eat comes from all over the world and have a high chance of having small hints of mercury in them. Stopping mercury pollution in the United States is not enough to protect the health of our kids and future generations. Mercury pollution is a global problem that needs a global solution fast. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that every year hundreds of thousands of American newborns are at risk for problems with fine motor skills and learning difficulties as a result of their mothers' fish consumption during pregnancy. New research also links mercury exposure with cardiovascular disease in adult men. Scientists continue to explore mercury and about additional health threats posed by mercury exposure. Environmental justice is the fair treatment the world deserves. Earth is shelter to billions of people and in return, we as citizens of Earth should try our best to keep the planet healthy and clean. Simple tasks such as recycling or not littering can help the planet greatly. Maps can help us see where environmental injustice exists because it points out the many places on Earth where there is a dark grayish cloud or the water around a certain amount of land is murky. This helps us know where we have to put more effort into keeping our planet green and clean.
ReplyDeleteAfter researching environmental health articles for my summer reading, I learned about 3 major issues that happen every single day and is effecting our planet bit by bit. The 3 major issues are air pollution, emissions of fossil fuels and deforestation. The article I read about focuses on the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah has one of the worst air pollution problems in the country and the impacts are horrifying as it is killing people. Air pollution has sent families and individuals to hospital emergency rooms due to having strokes and heart attacks. Asthma and respiratory diseases are slowly tightening peoples' lungs. But not just people are affected, but the atmosphere and oxygen take its toll also. The second article I read touched bases on the largest carbon emitters, with China being number 1 and the U.S. following right after. The chart shows China emitting about 2200-2300 metric tons of carbon in 2010. The use of fossil fuels are being used more and more every single year, which is one problem, and the chemicals that go in the air is another. The third and final article I read about talks about deforestation in the Amazon. But the thing about this article is that it shows the decline of deforestation in Brazing from it's peak in 1995 (nearing 30,000 sq km deforested) to about 6,000 sq km deforest in 2011. But deforestation takes away trees that provide oxygen for us, homes for various animals and overall an advantage for everyone. I think environmental justice is the act of saving our planet, one positive at a time. Just like justice in the court, environmental justice brings order to our natural world. Maps can help us see where injustice exists by showing what regions of the world has a certain issue and statistics of that certain region allows us to see where injustice exists.
ReplyDelete- I learned about toxic chemicals in plastic and air pollution. Chemicals found in common household products were linked to higher rates of diabetes in women. Women in poverty, in particular, are exposed to the highest levels of these chemicals. In terms of air pollution, I found one article that shed some light on the impoverished community in North Richmond, California near the Chevron refinery. Although the low-income residents are able to find affording housing in this area, they pay the price in poor health. These residents often find themselves sharing a fence line with a refinery. The people of Richmond live within 5 oil refineries, 3 chemical plants, 8 Superfund sites, and dozens of other toxic waste sites. Richmond's residents are at a high risk of dying from heart disease and strokes and more likely to go the hospitals for asthma than other county residents. Sandy Saeturn, a community organizer, recalls her experience at an elementary school, across a parkway and railroad tracks from the Chevron refinery, "The teacher sent us indoors, and gave us paper napkins to put over our mouths and noses, then loaded us into school buses. We were driven around until it was supposedly safe to come back." Unfortunately, the many residents of North Richmond have little opportunity to move because of their state of poverty. The median income in North Richmond is $36,875 compared to Richmond's $54,012, which is still half of Contra Costa Count's $78,385. I also found another article that linked air pollution to heart attacks. Scientists found that short-term exposure to air pollutants was associated with an increase in heart attacks. If the residents of North Richmond are exposed for long-terms, their health is seriously at risk.
ReplyDelete- Environmental justice is the right for all people to have fair access to basic necessities, including a clean environment, healthy food, and job opportunities. Environmental justice calls on the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, meaning each person deserves respect.
- Maps can help display data over an area. For example, this Food Desert map (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-desert-locator/go-to-the-locator.aspx) show communities were there is an insufficient access to healthy food. Most Food Deserts lie in low-income communities. A map like this one lets us see the injustice where residents are marginalized from the rest of the city.
The articles I read were centralized around air pollution. There were many events that factored into pollution levels, including the recent fire at the chevron refinery in Richmond. The focused on negativity you can feel, but there is some negativity you can see. For instance, ever since the refinery fire, gas prices have gone up an average of 23¢, however, money is not the only concern with all of the problems in the environment. These environmental disasters are sucker-punching our health. People with Asthma have been experiencing it much worse than any other asthma patients in the past. Also, the air conditions surrounding drill sites have been treated rather loosely as of late. These are all negative effects that could be nullified with the proper code restrictions, and have gone unchecked for years. All of this is the air that we breathe, so it is important that we do what we can to take care of it, and make sure that it stays as pure as it can possibly be.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oli-exploration-ramps-us-arctic
ReplyDeleteIn this article I learned about the environmental risks associated with drilling for more fossil fuels in the Arctic Circle. The company Shell wishes to continue operations there as the area holds an estimated 13% of the planet’s oil. Shell wants five wells somewhere north of Alaska to profit of this source of fuel. The major risk here is of course oil spills. Those against Shell’s decision are afraid that the company does not have the necessary emergency plans for such a disaster. Also another major risk is the lack of profit—a few decades ago similar wells were created in this area but without much economic gain. One other factor against Shell is the disruption of wildlife up there as offshore drilling can endanger the water quality and imbalance the ecosystem.
Environmental justice is what I think is best for the environment and not for us humans. We cannot exploit the resources of this planet too heavily or else in the future those exploitations will have consequences. Governments have to keep the health of the environment in mind as companies take big projects to gather such resources. Maps can show us where injustice exists by monitoring areas where there is such exploitation of the environment.
I learn that exposure to a lot of environmental contaminants has shown to be link to many human diseases like infectious diseases, cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems and low birth weight in infants . There has been an increased in the number of deaths in the U.S but mortality rates have declined. There has been studies done on Lead Blood exposure but the levels are declining. However child between the age of one and five still remain the most at risk and have the highest Blood lead levels. Also over the past decade the exposure to second hand smoke and decreased greatly. When compare age and race groups to diseases and health issues. They found that white children between the ages 0-18 have higher rates of cancer then when compared to African Americans. They also notice that Childhood asthma has increase about 4% between the yea 1980-1996 however The rates have not increase since 1997. According to data from 2006 about 1 in 8 Americans has been diagnosed with asthma. It is seen that Asthma is more dominated in the African and Native American communities as apposed to the Hispanic and whites. Even though these studies can help us find insight we are still not quite sure on the role it has with environmental contaminant exposures. I think more studies should be done so we can have a better picture of what the environment does to our health. Once we know what major contaminates are we can find away to reduce the exposure. Maps can help show us were there is a higher concentration of a certain contaminant. We could us those maps to help pen point common health problems in that area that might be because of the contaminant
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about environmental risks over the summer, the article I choose was based on air pollution in ozone levels. Ozone levels come from the many cars, power plants, and other pollutants that produce smog and contamination of the air we breathe. In this article, graphs were provided that showed the amount of days in a year a certain area had ozone levels above regulatory. In California, it revealed that we generally had less than 50 days of ozone levels a year above regulatory from studies conducted from the years 2001 to 2008. Then the graph broke it down more specifically showing the ozone levels in the counties in California. Based on that graph I was able to see that Southern California had around 50 and above days in a year of ozone levels above regulatory. One cause of this could also be the fact that Southern California is a lot of desert, and the higher the temperature, the higher the ozone level is above regulatory. However, in Northern California, it showed that we had 10 or less days of ozone levels above regulatory. Also in this article displayed a map of California and the counties within. This helped me to see in which counties had greater amount of days with ozone levels above regulatory and to compare it with other counties in California who maybe had a lower amount of days. There are many ways to help prevent these high number of days in which ozone levels are high. Some ways include finding other ways of transportation and not using your car so mush. Other ways include using more safe household items that don’t affect the environment. Together we can help take care of the Earth and the people in it.
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ReplyDeleteI did some research on hydraulic fracturing(or fracking). Hydraulic fracking is the method used to release natural gases and petroleum from the earth's surface. However, the process causes water to be contaminated with radioactive substances and high levels of salts. The waste has been disposed in a place called Marcellus Shale, in New York and spans to West Virginia. It is where untapped natural gases are stored and other toxic waste. The fracturing fluids there are starting to pollute industrial rivers and streams, which is harmful to factories because of the high levels of radioactive substances and salts. Researchers are trying to find a way to reduce the levels of waste water by changing their methods of fracturing--perhaps by using nitrogen based substances or converting gas into liquid to make separation of water and waste easier.
DeleteSource: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120806093929.htm
I also read about food deserts. Food deserts are locations throughout the United States and throughout the world where market food is not abundant and hardly available to people living in the area. The article I read was about a fix to food deserts throughout the U.S. Starting in Oakland, California, there were ecofriendly, solar powered food trucks that drove around, acting as a one aisle grocery store. The idea spread to other cities such as Kansas City and Baton Rouge. Not only are these grocery food trucks are providing food to places where it is scarce, it is providing healthy foods such as high quality fruit and vegetables at good, affordable prices, which is great for low income communities.
Source: healthland.time.com/2012/07/24/can-pop-up-grocery-stores-solve-the-problem-of-food-deserts/
During the summer reading, I learned about the whale hunting was still going on by some countries in the world. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it had achieved their goal and stopped whaling in the Southern Ocean, but Japan just moved elsewhere. Hunting whales for research purposes is allowed but Japan used to profit from it. Once research statistics shows that Japan keeps selling everything catching. According to the imformation, the Nisshin Maru and two harpoon ships expanded on a "research mission" to the Pacific Northwest four months after they left the Southern Ocean. Their target is 260 whales including 100 minkes of which says to be used for stomach content and DNA analysis. In 2011, over 3,500 whales were caught between Japan, Norway, Iceland and Denmark's, Faroe Islands. Whales are our friends, whales hunting is merciless, also it destorys ecological balance in some ways. People shoulld really do something effectively to protect whales.
ReplyDeleteIn my summer reading I learned that in Africa a species of penguins called Spheniscus is slowly disappearing from the face of the Earth due to the fact that their food source is being depleted either by commercial fishing or by global warming which forces the fish to move farther south while the penguins cannot move from their location. Some years the population of the penguins have dropped more than 25% and there is less than 120,000 Spheniscus penguins currently. This is indeed environmental injustice because for our own pleasure and luxery we have forced a species to go on the brink of extinction and it's not just these penguins too but other species of animals have suffered like Polar Bears, Sea Turtles and other life around the globe. People need to see that if we don't stop what we're doing and help these creatures, we'll lose the Earth too. It's not just about them, it's also about us. They go, and all the food chain and eventual we go too, so people better step up and help protect these wildlife species so future generations can live here on Earth comfortably too.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.coastalwiki.org/coastalwiki/Environmental_risk_assessment_of_marine_activities
ReplyDeletehttp://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/main/2011/05/13/feature-01
http://www.sii-ic.com/en/rohs.jsp
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/central-asia-political-transition-and-environmental-risks_5dc5#
I read articles about central asia and the nuclear power plants they have, and the impact they are having in an environment. Many people know of the environmental impact of Nuclear power plants, with their long term cause for disease, it is more evident now then ever before that we as a nation must keep our nuclear plants as contained as possible. Future defects are known to be cancers of all kinds, as well as radiation which would give people lesions and birth defects for years to come. What most people do not know is that Kazakhstan's citizens have been debating whether or not they should create a nuclear power plant, after Japans horrific incident in Fukushima. Moral laws must be put in place to prevent future horrific causes in the future.
From my summer reading, I was able to go more in depth on how polluted earth is. Through the years, air pollution has become a huge topic and many people are now trying to find solutions. Although the Environmental Protection Agency wanted to reconsider limiting mercury or other toxins released from by power plants, it was overturned by the Senate. While the air we breathe is harmful, so can be the food we eat. For example, the Environmental Working Group does an annual report called "Dirty Dozen", which names fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residue. The most well know fruits are in the list such as apples, strawberries and even grapes are included in the list which consists of 12 fruits and vegetables. I was definitely surprised to find out about my favorite fruits being on this list. While pollution and pesticides are not the causations of diseases and cancer, there is a connection or rather a correlation to many sicknesses. Environmental justice starts with becoming educated about the environmental risks. After becoming educated, a person should analyze the problem and finally, a person should take action by educating others and finding solutions to the problem. Maps help us see the where the injustice takes place by explaining where the concentration of injustice is. If many people see where the injustice specifically takes place, it will be easier for people to call for a change and find a solution to the certain predicament.
ReplyDeleteFrom my summer reading, I have learned a lot about environmental risks. Particularly the effect it had on young children. These young children often exposed to chemicals in the air get diagnosed with ADHD. These children get exposed to this chemicals at birth and are easily affected. Smoking, Lead, Mercury, manganese,tobacco, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and pesticides are commonly result in ADHD with young children. Exposure to air pollution, (ozone and nitrogen oxides) also results in several problems and can cause infants to die at birth. Driving can also result in diseases with children including asthma. As a study done in Southern California shows, asthma declined by 42% during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta when the amount of driving was reduced greatly. Environmental Justice is keeping our environment a safe place. With a safe environment we can have a healthy lifestyle. Harmful substances in our environment can lead to death, but environmental justice should make this nearly impossible. Maps can help us learn what we need to fix and how we should fix this. For example if we know where there is a problem in the environment, as part of the community we can do something to change it.
ReplyDeleteIn my summer article, I came across an article that had to deal with an E. coli outbreak that sickened 14 people in six different states. E. coli has been a sickness that often generated a lot of concern throughout the years. People throughout our country have always been scared of a potential outbreak that could create problems for doctors and humans alike. Cases have "been reported in Alabama (2), California (1), Florida (1), Georgia (5), Louisiana (4) and Tennessee (1), according to the CDC." Georgia was the state with the most cases (5). "Four of five are female, and their ages range from 18 to 52, with a median of 34. Illness onsets range from (April 15-28); one case was hospitalized overnight for this illness, and no cases have died," said Suleima Salgado, deputy director of communications for the Georgia Department of Public Health. The main environmental risk that found was that we come in contact with feces of humans or animals, the main cause of E. coli. Some people might think that would never happen, but feces and the very water we drink come in contact with one another many times. This tells me that we need to be careful what kind of water we drink. We need to make sure that the water is clean, and purified. I think environmental injustice is when some people aren't given the same environmental benefits and opportunities that other people are given. Maps are beneficial to us as they can provide us with data across the country or even the world. Maps can show us where environmental injustice happens, how we can stop or fix it, and how we can prevent it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting summer articles described second-hand smoking, specifically focusing on the health effects related with tobacco carcinogens. Before reading the article, I assumed that second-hand smoking had to be done indoors or in a car for its chemicals to actually have effect on others not smoking. The article tries to prove that smoking is dangerous to other people around you even outdoors. With an increase in indoor smoking bans, more smokers are doing it outside restaurants and bars, raising health concerns for the people around them. In the author's words, "A recent study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that nonsmokers who visited outdoor restaurants and bars where smoking was allowed had elevated levels of tobacco-related chemicals in the body compared with people at a smoke-free control site. This is how the "study" or experiment was conducted. In August and September 2012, 28 students in Athens, Georgia spent 3 nights, 1 each at the outside patios of a bar and a family restaurant, and an open air site with no smokers. At the bar and restaurant, one of the students made sure to count the number of cigarettes lit every 10 minutes. They spent three hours at each site while taking a saliva and urine test before, after, and the morning after the 3 hour sessions. Levels of salivary cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, were distinctly higher in the tests done after and the morning after the bar and restaurant visits. Another significant number was that there were 4 times more cigarettes lit in the bar, than at the restaurant. Urine tests showed an increased concentration of NNAL, a chemical found in tobacco after the visit to the restaurant and especially the bar.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I think environmental justice is? I think that it is being able to maintain an overall good environment for the people living there and the nature surrounding them. When I say a good environment for people I mean healthy, safe and clean. Maps can help us see where injustice exists by showing what areas are more polluted than others, where people are more often getting sick than other areas, and maybe simply how green a place is.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444900304577581663323288258.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22484462
In my summer reading I focused on how certain things like smoking and toxins can affect the things we eat and the air we breath. Even though not all of us smoke, second hand smoking causes high risk for some people. Second hand smoking can lead to a lung condition, which is the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. If the air we breathe is not mostly oxygen then the polluted air can cause holes in our lungs that later expand. An article from Salt lake City, Utah said that they have the worst air pollution in the country. Most of the younger and older people are suffering from respiratory diseases because of the lack of clean air. Another problem occurs with our intake of food, women who are pregnant and eat can food expose their unborn child to chemicals that lead to problems by the age of 3. Then 244 girls were tested and they found high levels of BPA in their children. BPA interferes with how hormones work in the body, and can block or change organs that may not develop normally. BPA can enter your frozen food, by warming up our food in the polycarbonate plastic the food comes in.
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental justice all depends on perspective and how a person reacts to their environment. Most of this can all be avoided, as long as we all are educated on what makes things go wrong in the world. Pollution can be avoided by using less cars, second hand smoking can be avoided by leaving a smoker, and BPA transferred in food can be avoided by moving the food out of the plastic or eating more fresh food. The way we treat the environment and the way it treats us depends on us finding a solution to the problems. Maps can represent many things that help show us where injustice lies so that we can avoid it. If more people can note and see where injustice lies, we can all take part and help take care of that area so we can all live in a safe environment.
In my summer reading I learned many interesting things about the environmental risks, one of them being water contamination. Millions of Americans drink water that is contaminated with lead. The EPA knows about it, the state governments and local utilities know about it, but we the people don't always know about it. Lead is one of the most dangerous neurotoxins known to man. It can potentially damage the developing brain and nervous system, causing life-long learning disabilities and other serious problems. Lead has been removed from gasoline, children's toys, and paint, but for some reason they can't get it out of the water. EPA tried to replace the lead pipes, but the company was sued by the American Water Works Association, who claimed that EPA was trying to take control of the service lines and that they did not have the authority to replace the pipes on private property. In 2000, EPA was allowed to perform "partial pipe replacements" from the water main to the private property line. Homeowners would have to complete the pipe replacing themselves, but only a few have actually done so.
ReplyDeleteI think environmental justice is involving everyone, not just a select few people, in activities that could improve the environment. For example, the EPA in my article wanted to replace all the lead pipes in the United States to save EVERYONE from lead poisoning. If they hadn't been sued by that major company, they would have succeeded in making our country a little safer. They were practicing environmental justice. Environmental injustice would be if the EPA only decided to replace the pipes from only the rich people, or only a certain race of people.
Maps help us see certain areas from an arial view. Some maps can point out where certain things are, like a certain city or country. If there was a map that showed areas where injustice is, we could pinpoint exactly where a certain area is and try to fight the injustice. It could help us all live in a better place.
One of the articles I chose to write about discussed the exploitation of resources from the earth. In this specific article, drilling was mostly discussed. Because of Obama's administration, regarding drilling, it has declined 39% since 2008. But now, since resources are still awfully low, especially since the beginning of the recession, drilling may resume and even be done exponentially more often, mainly in the west. I also read about air pollutants and how there are so many different factors adding to the pollution in the air. I used to think that air pollution was limited to exhaust from fuel-based products. After reading, I discovered that pollution in the air comes from power plants, vehicles, war equipment, nitrogen oxide, and other chemicals (manmade and natural). I think environmental justice is justice that regards keeping the earth green and healthy, and not exploiting it constantly how we do now. Maps can show up places that are not as enriched with resources, causing them to overuse or completely use up resources in their area, polluting and de-greening the environment.
ReplyDeleteIn my summer readings, I learned mostly about air pollution and its effect. I read especially about it's effect on Utah. Air pollution is getting so bad that it is slowly killing us. Because of air pollution, there are reports of heart attacks and strokes. Many families, old and young people are being sent to hospital emergency rooms because of air pollution. The air pollution causes serious lung diseases which causes heavy coughing and wheezing. Asthma is one of the most common results of air pollution. Asthma effects a majority of the young children, while also effecting everyone else. There are many sources of where the air pollution is coming from. In a pie graph shown on the source about the sources of air pollution in Utah, it states: 8% from households, 17% from commercial, 20% from a large industry, and 55% from cars and trucks. Most importantly I learned that air pollution is one of the most important crisis in America, causing over 2,000+ deaths each year. Air pollution also takes off two years of a person's life.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor my summer reading, I researched the correlation between socioeconomic status and asthma prevalence, specifically in young adults. I actually didn’t know what “socioeconomic” meant, but really, it just means how social and economic factors interact. It turns out that young adults that are in lower socioeconomic groups have higher asthma prevalence. There are many reasons that asthma is linked to the state of the surrounding community—air pollution, physical and psychological demands of living in a deprived environment, exposure to poverty, and community beliefs and practices, among other reasons. A similar article also mentioned that older men are more often diagnosed with asthma than any gender in any age group. This is because of the working conditions that younger men often have to work in, causing them to develop asthma and wheezing later on in their lives.
ReplyDeleteIn one of my summer reading articles I read about pollution contributing to the effects health in Utah. Many people in Utah have asthma due to the pollution and the pollution causes extreme heat in addition to the unclean air which makes it heard to breath. Also, the pollution contributes the thinning out and deterioration of the O-Zone layer. This causes the temperature to become higher. 55% of the pollution in Utah came from cars and trucks. I think that environment justice is ways how we can help the environment from becoming clean and stopping it from becoming dirty. An environmental justice is being eco-friendly. Environmental injustices can be shown on maps that show areas high in heat throughout the years because usually the higher the heat throughout the years, the more pollution was created and contributed to the harm of the environment.
ReplyDeleteThe articles i have read over the summer mainly involve the use of technology and its relationship with pollution. To summarize: One obvious example would be the use of the automobile. As us humans thrive into more advance civilizations there are certain factors that need to be noticed. To gain a benefit for our own, it must be taken away from something else. Using the automobile may save us time with transportation, but it does not save the Earth anything for itself. Studies have recorded and shown that the amount of pollution from vehicles all around the world increase with equilibrium to the growth of population. The amount of pollution is one thing, but its effect can deteriorate the natural habitats in which we live in and neglect to look after. In general, vehicles emit Particulate Matter, which are tiny particles that can enter human lungs from smog, Hydrocarbons, which can irritate the respiratory system, Carbon monoxide, poisonous gas that is created with the combustion fossil fuels, and also Sulfur Dioxide, some of which is created burning sulfer-related fuels such as diesel which can affect children with asthma and worsen their current health. Also, To fix these predicaments environmental justice must take its course. Environmental Justice is not just providing the idea of cleaning the world nor is it just a choice, it is the responsibility of the human race to look after its own actions and consequences as it affects the very ground and air that we stand on and breathe in. The use of maps showing percentages of heavily concentrated pollution can guide people to make them focus on priorities such as countries that are in a more polluted area than the U.S.
ReplyDeleteFrom my summer readings I read about a cancer-causing toxin called Aflatoxin that is found in baby formula in China. They were found in boxes and tins that weighed between 400 and 900 grams. This is only one of the many food safety problems that have befallen China. In 2008, at least 6 babies died and over 300,000 became sick due to melanine tainted milk powder. This is one of several risks that I read about. Though it's not really environmental, there are many people this affects, putting infants at risk of getting cancer. I think environmental justice is mainly taking care of the environment. We are all responsible for the environment, and we can blame no one but ourselves for mistreating it. Maps can help us see where injustice is because through looking at maps, you can see many areas that are forlorn. A lot of forsaken areas that we can find on maps are like that because they are a most likely bad place to live in. It's up to us to take care of the environment, and make these places good to live in.
ReplyDeleteIn my summer reading, my articles mainly focused on the public health and how environmental risks are harmful to the health of the public. I learned about the harmful effects of air pollution and how antioxidants can help reduce this. It mainly focuses on how keeping a healthy diet can protect you against the common health threat of air pollution. In this article it talks about a study that some researchers experiment through to see "if individual levels of antioxidants and related genetic markers would protect against harm from oxidative stress imposed by particulate air pollution." In result, those with low levels of vitamin C are more susceptible to the harmful effects of air pollution. It mainly focused on improving the public health, but the air pollution is something to be of concern towards the public health and keeping people healthy. Another concern to public health is the combination of heat and heart disease. Currently there is an expected rise in temperature with a warm climate, and although the heat doesn't affect everyone's health, but those diagnosed with a congestive heart failure have more problems and are more prone to the warmer climate and have an increased risk of death, heat stroke, heat exhaustion and hospital admissions. So researchers did an extensive study between the association between temperature and the changes in heart disease on those who were diagnosed with any kind of heart problems. As a result, the higher the temperature, the higher risk for patients with heart failure problems. Elevated temperature can trigger heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems in people being treated for heart disease. In the end those with heart failure risk should avoid high temperatures, but the studies did help to prove that high temperatures can be harmful for those with heart failure problems. The last article focused on Environment, Health, and Safety reducing energy consumption, emissions and safety issues. By doing this, business will rise, and the environment will be kept cleaner and safer from any kind of harmful pollutions. In my opinion, I think that environmental justice is all about finding ways to keep the environment safer for our communities and beneficially the world. Maps are important in showing us the injustice because it would give us a visual on what exactly is wrong so we can get an idea of what it is we need to actually fix these problems.
ReplyDeleteFor the summer reading, i found information on death and heart disease. There are about 793.8 deaths for every 100,000 people. The leading cause of death according to FASTSTATS is heart disease. Even though there are multiple different types of heart disease they seem to be the most harmful. One interesting thing that i learned is that there are more African Americans dying of heart attacks in the US then there are Hispanics, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental justice is treating each and every person the same, whatever their race, ethnicity, color, or income is. By following this rule we are able to keep our community safe for everyone. An example of environmental justice is, at schools when you see a mix of all races, ethnicities. This shows that there is and equal opportunity for each person.
For my summer reading, I focused on the phenomenon known as food deserts. I read a number of articles explaining what exactly a food desert was. Basically its an area where proper fresh food isn’t readily available because of any of a number of socioeconomic factors. These areas are often city areas where food is more accessible to get at the local convenience store, gas station, or liquor store than a proper grocery store. In one article, it went in detail about the struggles of the city of Detroit to keep a major grocery chain in the city. On top of economic factors, the geographic location of many cities makes access to fresh products near impossible. I learned that environmental justice is a fair and even distribution of all environmental benefits. This is the exact problem in food deserts. These areas don’t have access to fresh food that other towns close by may have. A lack of healthy food can lead to many health problems within a food desert; obesity, diabetes, malnutrition, and hunger. The collaborative project between CST and AP STATS last year is a step in the right direction. If that could be increased to a larger scale, from small gardens to large farms or grocery stores and from our local community to the national scale, great strides could be made to rid the nation of food deserts. If we took it even further, one article said it’d cost about 13 billion dollars to satisfy basic food requirements worldwide. 13 billion. That’s how much America and Western Europe spends on cologne and perfume in a year. Ending world hunger at the price of your favorite perfume. Clearly it’s not a question of if its possible but rather are people willing to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment, I focused on air pollution in the environment and how it could potentially worsen over the next forty years. In several articles I read, the pollution in the air will steadily climb, significantly increasing the number of premature deaths due to the severity. It is estimated that if these trends continue, “exposure to particulate matter” could potentially be the reason for 3.6 million premature deaths. That number is double would it currently is and would centralize in Asian countries, most likely. It is predicted that China and India would experience the most deaths from these causes, but other areas would be affected too. Currently, some countries are beyond what the World Health Organization feels is the safe level of pollution. Additional affects could include diseases caused by chemical pollution from up-and-coming less organized countries. This paired with the overall increase in air pollution will serve to cause many negative health effects and will continue to exponentially worsen as years pass and urban waste increases.
ReplyDeleteFrom the summer reading, some of the environmental risks I learned about were environmental toxins like pollution from coal-fired factories and vehicle emissions. These toxins were in the air and when people were exposed to a highly concentrated area they were becoming sick. The problem was there was nothing anybody could really do about the poor air quality and even if the government ordered any factories or nearby sources of pollution to cease production, the air that already exists would still remain contaminated and the facilities would still be emitting these toxins into the air. I think environmental injustice has to do with the fact that not enough people are willing to put forth the funds and effort to create a healthier and more responsible environment. They know of the risks they are creating and yet they do not care enough to stop it. Maps can help pinpoint where injustice occurs by showing levels of toxins in the air and coding it to how highly concentrated it is. A map can also display how many people in the populous are being affected by known environmental risks and at what rate.
ReplyDeleteOne of the article I chose talked about pollution in the Big Apple, New York City. A substance called black carbon which is used to indicate pollution by construction and low quality gas. it is a fine particle that have big impacts on the heart and respiratory system, and can penetrate deeply into your lungs. Because of the growing rate of black carbon, neighborhoods where more of it are found are experiencing and noticing that their children are at a higher risk for asthma. This article only speaks of one of hundreds of environmental risks around New York City. Something we need to help with is how to control and eliminate these risks. i believe that environmental justice is the process of planning and following through the plans to eliminate or at least lower these risks that are now effecting more people. A map could also be very helpful with this process, it would help us find the higher rates in each location which would allow for more proficient plans to lower the risks.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, I read a few articles about the radiation levels in Japan as an aftermath from the earthquakes and nuclear threats. It turns out that despite the earthquake being over a year ago, the radiation levels are still rising and falling indefinitely. For example, radiation often dissolves and dissipates into the atmosphere with no problems at all, but somehow some radiation still gets trapped on the human, breathable surface. For example, recently, the city of Fukushima was tested for radiation. One-third of the residents were diagnosed with cesium poisoning as a result of the unstable radiation levels in the area. If people did research to figure out how to dispel and ward off the radiation, maybe the number of victims would fall drastically.
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer, I researched a lot on environmental risks mainly focuses on the Richmond fire health claims that poured in after the Chevron blaze. After this blaze, hundreds of Richmond residents made legal claims that the refinery fire that hit the region's air for hours sent more than 4,000 people to seek medical care for breathing problems and irritated eyes. Later on thousands more made similar claims throughout the week calling the Chevron hotline after Monday's explosion and fire at its Richmond refinery. A total of 3,800 people made claims through Friday afternoon because of the air pollution in Richmond. This article showed that one explosion/fire caused more than thousands to have health issues due to air pollutions, image the daily explosions and fires we have around the world and the thousands more that are affected by this health hazard. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District still continues to investigate the fire's effect on the region's air quality, hopefully this investigations will be done to determine the cause of effects of the Richmond refinery fire. Another article I read over the summer was about the State health department who urges people to take precautions to reduce the risk of contracting West Nile virus, a mosquito borne illness. People should use insect repellent when outdoors and avoid going outside at dusk and dawn. This article shows that environmental issues in some parts of the world really effect the way people live their daily lives. This issue is very serious because there are no medications to treat or vaccines to prevent West Nile virus infection. In my opinion, I feel like finding environmental justice is through trying to make the environment safer for the daily living for the people in our world and also to educate others about the dangers of air pollutions & viruses such as the ones mentioned in the articles I've talked about above. Maps can point out where the certain areas around the world show injustice, you can use the maps to fight the injustice and help with making the world's environment a better place for humankind.
ReplyDeleteFrom my summer reading, I've read about the effect of water and sanitation. I found out that many factors affect water and sanitation. According to the World Health Organization, the transmission routes for infections are complex and thus contribute to the complexity of prevention. I found out that intervention can reduce the diarrhoeal incidence by a 25% and child mortality by 65%. This marks the importance of the safety of water supply as it can prevent mentioned outcomes. It further expands on the presence of dangerous chemicals, especially in ground water. Surprisingly, fluoride and arsenic naturally occur in groundwater. The consumption of these chemicals can cause serious health effects that are irreversible. This puts children at most risk. This event is occurring worldwide in developing and non-developed countries.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of environmental justice is broad as it can range from what people should do about it to how we should be reacting to the risks present in the environment. Environmental justice can be when the people take action in order to reduce the number of risks for the good of public health. However, the measures that the people may take may harm the environment if the plan calls for destructive measures. Therefore, environmental justice is a delicate and complex concept that requires thought.
On the other hand, maps is a graphic way to show injustice in any area. By the same token, the data on the maps must be from a reliable source. The definition of injustice around the world varies, and one should take account of that.
For my summer reading I read about the Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the lowest every recorded. The extent of the low sea ice used to be 1.61 sq miles but now it is 1.58m sq miles. Over the past 30 years, the minimum records of the sea ice had a overall inclination and in the last three decades, 13% decline per decade in summer has occurred. The sea ice has become so very thin now. In 1980s 40% of its thickness has been lost and now the thickness is only 30% of what it was in the 80s. In this acceleration rate, the prediction of scientists that in 2015 the Arctic will be ice-free seems becoming truth. The increase of the sea water brings potential danger to the safety of human. I think environment justice means our obligation to protect the environment as members of the great nature, not the masters, during human's development. Maps can help us see the problems which are happening out there somewhere we might not have been aware of, and realize the seriousness of problem we are going through right now.
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