What are the Greatest Risks to the Environment?
Lois Levitan, Ph.D. and Eric Strong, M.Eng.
In the long run, unsustainable use of energy and resources is the greatest risk to the environment and all living things. Sustainable use of resources is at a rate and in ways such that they are not depleted nor permanently damaged. Anything else is unsustainable.
The increasing rate of consumption by a fraction of the world population is unsustainable, as is the rate of population growth. The Earth's population of about 6.5 billion people is growing by 2 million every 5 days (Source: World Watch Magazine, Sept/Oct 2004).
There is some debate whether energy from fossil fuels or nuclear fuels poses a greater risk to the environment and to all of us, our children, and our children's children for generations to come. Fossil fuel use is unsustainable because (i) fossil fuels are in limited supply; (ii) the remaining fossil fuels are more difficult to extract, so that almost as much energy is needed to mine them as is derived from burning them; and (iii) burning fossil fuels contributes to global climate change, with all its consequent hazardous effects. On the other hand, nuclear energy generates radioactive materials that last almost indefinitely, causes cancers, has other potentially devastating health effects, and generates waste materials that can be used to develop nuclear weapons. Energy conservation and use of renewable sources of energy are sustainable alternatives.
Poverty and war pose the greatest risks to human health and the environment in the here-and-now. Indirect impacts—e.g., increasing risk from diseases and greater exposure to environmental pollutants such as contaminated drinking water and air-borne particulates—pose an even greater threat than the direct impacts of violent conflicts and poverty.
From Environmental Health Perspectives, Special Focus, December
2004
Indicators of Trouble and Progress
The Earth Policy Institute has identified twelve Eco-Economy
Indicators that chart critical trends towards (or away from) an
environmentally-sustainable economy. In 2005 these were:
Population Growth (increasing by 76 million annually)
Economic Growth (losing momentum)
Fish Catch (leveling off)
Forest Cover (shrinking)
Carbon Emissions (continuing to climb)
Grain Harvest (growth slowing)
Water Scarcity (spreading)
Global Temperature (rising)
Ice Melt (everywhere)
Wind Electric Generation (soaring)
Bicycle Production (breaks 100 million)
World Sales of Solar Cells (jumps 32 percent)
Overconsumption / Sustainability
The World Watch Institute (http://www.worldwatch.org/)
"Founded by Lester Brown in 1974, the Worldwatch Institute offers a unique blend of interdisciplinary research, global focus, and accessible writing that has made it a leading source of information on the interactions among key environmental, social, and economic trends. Our work revolves around the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially just society—and how to achieve it."
How Many Ways Can We Skin this Cat Called Earth? Risks and Constraints to the Biobased Economy. Levitan, Lois. 2000. NABC 12: The Biobased Economy of the 21st Century: Agriculture Expanding into Health, Energy, Chemicals, and Materials. [15p pdf].
Excerpt: My objective is to assess risks and constraints to realizing the hopeful vision of a biobased economy in the twenty-first century — a future in which agriculture and other managed biobased production systems provide society with food, fiber, medicinals, energy, chemicals, and materials. I will evaluate whether thebiobased economy is possible and whether it is sustainable, given constraints to the quantity and quality of land, water, nutrients, and energy to propel the system.
Poplinks: Sustainability Websites. Population Coalition (http://www.popco.org/links.html#sustainability)
Sustainability and Resource Protection Programs. The Environmental Law Institute (http://www.eli.org/research/SRP.htm)
Fossil Fuels / Global Climate Change
The Convention and Kyoto Protocol. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (http://unfccc.int/resource/convkp.html)
Intergovernmental Panel on Cilmate Change (http://www.ipcc.ch/)
"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation."
Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions. Committee on the Science of Climate Change, National Research Council. 2001. National Academy Press. (http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10139.html)
Forward: This study originated from a White House request to help inform the Administration 's ongoing review of U.S. climate change policy. In particular, the written request (Appendix A) asked for the National Academies' "assistance in identifying the areas in the science of climate change where there are the greatest certainties and uncertainties," and "views on whether there are any substantive differences between the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] Reports and the IPCC summaries."
Nuclear Energy
Safe Energy Communication Council (http://www.safeenergy.org)
Mission Statement: The Safe Energy Communication Council (SECC) is an environmental coalition of national energy, environmental and public interest media groups working to increase public awareness of the ability of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources to meet an increasing share of our nation's energy needs and the serious economic and environmental liabilities of nuclear power. SECC provides local, state and national organizations with technical assistance through media skills training and outreach strategies.
Nuclear Information and Resource Service (http://www.nirs.org/)
Poverty
Socioeconomic Status and Health: The Potential Role of
Environmental Risk Exposure. Gary W. Evans and Elyse Kantrowitz.
2002. Annual Review of Public Health 23:303-331. (http://publhealth.annualreviews.org/cgi/content/full/23/1/303)
Abstract: Among several viable
explanations for the ubiquitous SES-health gradient is differential
exposure to environmental risk. We document evidence of inverse
relations between income and other indices of SES with environmental
risk factors including hazardous wastes and other toxins, ambient and
indoor air pollutants, water quality, ambient noise, residential
crowding, housing quality, educational facilities, work environments,
and neighborhood conditions. We then briefly overview evidence that
such exposures are inimical to health and well-being. We conclude with
a discussion of the research and policy implications of environmental
justice, arguing that a particularly salient feature of poverty for
health consequences is exposure to multiple environmental risk factors.
Poverty, Culture, and Social Justice; Determinants of
Cancer Disparities. Harold Freeman. 2004. A Cancer Journal for
Clinicians54(2):72-77. (http://
caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/reprint/54/2/72)
Dr. Harold
Freeman is Director of the Center to Reduce Health Disparities at the
National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Socioeconomic Status and Health: The Potential Role of Environmental Risk Exposure. Gary W. Evans and Elyse Kantrowitz. 2002. Annual Review of Public Health 23:303-331. (http://publhealth.annualreviews.org/cgi/content/full/23/1/303)
Abstract: Among several viable explanations for the ubiquitous SES-health gradient is differential exposure to environmental risk. We document evidence of inverse relations between income and other indices of SES with environmental risk factors including hazardous wastes and other toxins, ambient and indoor air pollutants, water quality, ambient noise, residential crowding, housing quality, educational facilities, work environments, and neighborhood conditions. We then briefly overview evidence that such exposures are inimical to health and well-being. We conclude with a discussion of the research and policy implications of environmental justice, arguing that a particularly salient feature of poverty for health consequences is exposure to multiple environmental risk factors.
Poverty, Culture, and Social Justice; Determinants of
Cancer Disparities. Harold Freeman. 2004. A Cancer Journal for
Clinicians54(2):72-77. (http://
caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/reprint/54/2/72)
Dr. Harold
Freeman is Director of the Center to Reduce Health Disparities at the
National Cancer Institute (NCI).
War
Battle Scars: Global Conflicts and Environmental Health. Environmental Health Perspectives 112 (17): Focus 12 pages. Valerie J. Brown ( http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-17/toc.html)
Abstract: The nature and weapons of war have changed radically in the last century, bringing conflict off the battleground and into city streets, and thereby magnifying its environmental health consequences. Age-old problems still follow war---lack of food, shelter, water, and sanitation, risk of infectious disease, and psychological trauma. But modern war also saddles populations with new threats from industrial and military chemicals, pesticides, and radiation, and humanitarian aid systems designed to help people after natural disasters cannot function properly in combat environments. A few encouraging strides are being made, such as the overall reduction in landmine production and use. It remains to be seen what further progress can be made in alleviating the environmental health disaster that is war.
War and Environment Links. Environmental Media Services (http://www.ems.org/war/information.html)
Environmental Impacts of War. Environmental Media Services (http://www.ems.org/war/risks.html)
War and Environment Links. Environmental Media Services (http://www.ems.org/war/information.html)
Addressing Environmental Consequences of War. Environmental Law Institute (http://www.eli.org/research/war.htm)
Excerpt: Despite a large body of legal and moral prescriptions that require military actions to focus on combatants, war makes casualties of both innocent civilians and the environment in which they live. The past century has seen the development of particularly devastating military technologies, with horrific consequences to the jungles of Vietnam, the deserts and seas of the Persian Gulf, the mountains of Africa, and their inhabitants. Clear standards of conduct and a credible threat of civil and criminal sanctions for violations of those standards is critical if these environmental atrocities, along with other wartime atrocities, are to be deterred and punished.
Environmental Legacy of Wars. Green Cross International (http://www.greencrossinternational.net/GreenCrossPrograms/legacy/ envlegwar.html
UNEP Post-Conflict Assessment Unit (http://postconflict.unep.ch/)
Population Growth
Population Press (http://www.popco.org/press/)
"The Population Press is a bi-monthly newsletter of the Population Coalition. It presents news, facts, and viewpoints on a wide range of population, consumption, sustainability, and environmental issues."
Poplinks: Population and Environment Websites. Population Coalition (http://www.popco.org/links.html#environment)
Population And The Environment: A Bibliography. Greta de Groat. 1994. Electronic Green Journal 1(2). (http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/egj02/groat01.html)
"This bibliography is intended to provide an overview of current resources about population and the environment, geared toward a popular or non-specialist audience. It is a selection of items published since 1986 and generally widely available in larger public or medium-sized academic libraries. Specialist academic or professional works are not included. Also not included are the many excellent articles which have come out in environmental journals in preparation for the Cairo Conference. An attempt has been made to also present points of view other than that of the mainstream environmental and population control community, though opposition groups do not appear to publish a great deal and their works are not widely available."
Water Shortage
Nature Web Focus: Global Water Crisis (http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/water/)
The World Water Council (http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/)
"The missions of the World Water Council are to promote awareness and build political commitment on critical water issues at all levels, including the highest decision-making level, to facilitate the efficient conservation, protection, development, planning, management and use of water in all its dimensions on an environmentally sustainable basis for the benefit of all life on earth."
Vital Water Graphics United Nations Environment Programme (http://www.unep.org/vitalwater/)
Links to Websites Related to Water Issues United Nations Environment Programme (http://www.unep.org/vitalwater/links.htm)
