Improve Earth’s Eco Systems By Eating Healthy
Environmental change is the biggest threat the planet has ever had to face since the last global nuclear war threat; it’s also the biggest threat to human health in history. And we have ourselves and big corporations to blame. But humans can change this trend and improve Earth’s eco systems by eating healthy.
Environmental change is not just about climate change or inferred global warming, but includes water and ocean pollution, chemical and plastic contamination, Big-Pharma drugs and antibiotics proliferation, nuclear waste and spills, and spent uranium dispersal by munitions used in our useless wars.
Many experts the world over believe that we have crossed the point of no return; others are more optimistic and believe that we can still do something to reverse the disastrous effects of climate change or the broader issue of Eco stress. There are also those who still refuse the ugly reality of environmental and climate change.
But the proof surrounds us everywhere and confronts us every day. But for those of us who want to take steps and help prevent further damage to our blue planet, we must also take the necessary and immediate steps to protect our health; in doing this, we will also be taking steps toward helping Mother Earth recover. And we must do this for the sake of our survival.
Needless to say, human health is unavoidably tied to the health of the planet. The extreme changes that earth is now experiencing not only impact the environment but also both the collective and individual health of humans. But while we must do whatever is necessary to “heal the world,” so to speak, the truth of the matter is that the earth will survive us.
Costa Rica is the world leader in changing their farming practices. They are exceptionally eco-friendly unlike their US neighbor to the north.
We have proven to be one of the most destructive forces in the history of our planet, but the earth will remain long after we have gone. The end of our and other species will most likely be caused by us, through the continued abuse of the environment we live in. But the earth still has a greater chance of surviving it than we do.
We paved the way for this mess; we have created the greatest environmental disaster since the last mass extinction. And we are only beginning to pay the price.
As American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer, Wendell Berry, once said:
“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.”
We are just in the early, and hopefully not irreversible, stages of man-made environmental and climate change, but here’s what the World Health Organization Director General Dr. Margaret Chan recently stated is already taking place:
“The stakes are high. WHO estimates that climate change is already causing tens of thousands of deaths every year. These deaths arise from more frequent epidemics of diseases like cholera, the vastly expanded geographical distribution of diseases like dengue, and from extreme weather events, like heatwaves and floods.
Climate change degrades air quality, reduces food security, and compromises water supplies and sanitation. These consequences are likewise deadly.
WHO estimates that more than 7 million people die each year from diseases related to air pollution, making it the world’s largest single environmental risk to health.” ( Source: www.who.int )
And it is only getting worse.
The extreme phenomena that are expected to occur as a direct result of these changes will undoubtedly have a direct effect on collective human health. American author and critic, Marya Mannes, gave fair warning about the karmic vengeance humans will suffer because of our continued abuse of the environment in one of her most popular quotes:
“The earth we abuse and the living things we kill will, in the end, take their revenge; for in exploiting their presence we are diminishing our future.”
And that future is now. The last few years have already given us a good dose of this karmic vengeance, and things will only continue to get worse.
Extreme Weather Patterns & Natural Disasters
Extreme heat, for one, has already become a serious problem in many parts of the world. High temperatures aggravate cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cause severe health stress on certain groups of people, particularly the elderly.
Rainfall patterns are also becoming increasingly variable, affecting the supply of fresh water in many areas (the prolonged drought in a large area of California is a good example). Drought and famine, as well as the diseases that often accompany water scarcity, will be experienced in areas in the world where they have never been experienced before and will eventually become a global problem.
At the same time, weather-related natural disasters have also been occurring more frequently and at greater intensities than ever before. Extreme weather events, such as stronger and bigger typhoons and hurricanes, have been causing more devastating destruction of properties and claiming more lives. Deaths resulting from severe flooding and water-borne diseases have been increasing at an exponential rate, especially in developing countries.
Extreme weather patterns and more destructive natural disasters are already affecting the production of staple foods. Whether an area relies on agricultural farming, fishing, or raising of livestock, extreme heat and unpredictable rains result in decreased food production and, consequently, lead to an increase in undernutrition and malnutrition, and even death.
Allergies & Diseases
Severe and unpredictable climate patterns mean severe and unpredictable patterns of allergies and infections. Extreme heat brings about higher levels of pollen and other allergens, which can also be more potent and which translate to higher cases of asthma, other allergic reactions, and allergy-related diseases. Heavier rains and flooding increase the risk of water-borne diseases and the population of disease vectors, such as flies, mosquitoes, and snails.
According to a recent WHO fact sheet:
“Changes in climate are likely to lengthen the transmission seasons of important vector-borne diseases and to alter their geographic range. For example, climate change is projected to widen significantly the area of China where the snail-borne disease schistosomiasis occurs3.
Malaria is strongly influenced by climate. Transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, malaria kills almost 600 000 people every year – mainly African children under 5 years old. The Aedes mosquito vector of dengue is also highly sensitive to climate conditions, and studies suggest that climate change is likely to continue to increase exposure to dengue.” ( Source: www.who.int )
Poor Quality of Life
Water scarcity. Poor access to food sources, medical aid, and other critical services. Inability to cope with sudden and extreme weather/climate changes. Poor air quality, especially critical levels of smog (such as what happened in Beijing, China recently).
Small island nations, coastal areas, mountainous regions, megacities, and polar regions are among the most vulnerable to climate change and its disastrous effects on human health.
Certain populations and areas of the world, developing countries in particular, have already been experiencing poorer quality of life because of environmental changes. People in these areas, especially children, the elderly, the infirm, and those with pre-existing medical conditions, are the most affected and the least able to adapt.
Unless their respective governments act now – not soon, but now – their quality of life will continue to decline.
We Have Only Ourselves to Blame
The prolonged drought in California; the unbreathable air in Bejing; the appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria; the numerous earthquakes in several U.S. states caused by fracking; the immense floodings, large-scale destruction of properties, and high number of deaths caused by huge hurricanes and typhoons in many countries all over the world; the rise and spread of new diseases, such as H1N1 swine flu and the SARS corona virus – these are just some of the threats to our health and survival that we have created ourselves.
In addition to our individual actions, we have also been enabling the government and giant industries – Big Ag, Big Pharma, the medical industry, and their ilk – to do as they may, with no regard to the environment, all other species living on the planet, and even our own species.
What do you know about chemtrails, for example? Chemtrails, also known as Geoengineering, are more than just a conspiracy theory and you’ll see why after reading our article. And have you heard the latest news about the superbug epidemic? About how our last defense against superbugs has failed? You can also learn more about these issues the article “Overcoming The Superbug Epidemic“. Recently, Monsanto has been in the news because their evils have finally been proven and the fears about the dangers of GMOs and related products have finally been shown to be substantiated.
The longer we turn a blind eye to the greedy and careless actions of our respective governments and these giant industries, the more we doom ourselves to living in a world that is becoming increasingly unlivable and to a lifetime of dealing with one health problem and threat after another.
Forewarned Is Forearmed
Those who say that the claim of “man-made global changes” is just another, and perhaps the biggest, demonstration of man’s hubris would argue that the human species are nothing more than pesky fleas infesting the earth. But as big as our planet is and as small as we are compared to it and all the other living beings on it, our sheer numbers and the high degrees and immense scale of our activities still create ripples that collect into large and highly destructive waves.
And accepting responsibility for the global destruction we have wreaked as a species is just one of the critical steps that will lead us to correcting our mistakes.
This excerpt from an article on LiveScience.com puts the issue of human health and climate in perspective:
“But no matter how high humans cause the mercury to rise and how much damage we do to the planet, Earth and life will survive, scientists say. It just might no longer be in the form we prefer or the form that allows us to thrive.
“What we need to be thinking of as humans causing changes to the Earth system is what the consequences will be to us human beings,” said Edwards, the USC geo-microbiologist. “The Earth could care less. We will be recorded as a minor perturbation in the Earth system. The Earth will go on. The question is: Will we?””
( Source: livescience.com )
The time to act is now.
In doing our part, no matter how small, to minimize our contribution to climate change, we will not only be helping heal our ailing planet; we will also be ensuring our survival and a better quality of life for us and for future generations.
When we think about climate change, we also have to think about the effective ways that we can cope with the dangers that it poses to our health, and how, by living more healthfully, we are also living in better harmony with our environment.
When we eat more ethically, organically, and healthfully; when we stop supporting the industries that destroy our planet and threaten our survival and start supporting our local farmers and local organic communities, we do our part in preventing the looming environmental meltdown.
The threat of environmental changes on human health cannot be underestimated. And things will only get worse before they get better, if they are going to get better.
It may seem far-fetched and an exaggeration to say that living more healthfully through healthy eating can help minimize the effects of climate on our individual and collective health, much more to the health of our planet. But if our sheer numbers can cause such great damage to our planet, then it is also with our sheer numbers that we can heal the damage that we have caused. Θ
