UNIT OPENER
Unit IV- HEALTH ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ON PEOPLE’S HEALTH Philippines is said to be one of the richest countries all over the world. With all its natural resources, endemic species, and wide biodiversity, it is indeed one of the major attractions and destinations among tourists. However, despite of its beauty, Philippines is facing a human-caused major problem – and that is the continued degradation of our environment. Here are some of the environmental issues that press our country right now along with its causes and effects on people.
Environmental Issues Definition Cause/s Effects Facts
Deforestation
(Note: picture for each environmental issue) destruction of forests by means of clearing and cutting of trees -Illegal logging
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Illegal Mining -unlawful acquisition or extraction of important minerals like ore, coal, nickel, gold, iron, and other materials from the earth -economic interest of the miner without any legal document (e.g. land rights, mining license, mining exploration license) that can validate the operation
- Deforestation
- Soil erosion and contamination
-Loss of biodiversity
-Contamination of water resources
-Possible formation of sinkholes
-Possible risk of death in some miners
• Black sand mining (extraction of magnetite), in the beaches of the Northern provinces, caused coastal erosion and floods to seaside communities.
• The Philippines is ranked fifth mineral-richest country in the world in terms of gold, copper, and chromite.
• The Mining Act of 1995 allows companies (Contractors) to acquire exploration permits for a specific area for up to 4 years and ownership of mining assets
Overpopulation -there is an excessive number of living individuals compared to the capacity of their environment
-Increased birth rate
-Reduced
Deaths
-Technological
advancement in fertility rate
-Better medical Facilities
-Immigration
-Lack of birth Control/family
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
1) To inflict economic damage on those profiting from the destruction and exploitation of the natural environment;
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, "Black Mesa Project Final Environmental Impact Statement," U.S. Deparment of the Interior, Washington DC, 2008.
The excitement for mining and excavating for minerals was sparked in prospectors and people looking for an easy way of profit in the 60’s.This second gold rush of speaks, despite most of the minerals they were after was more on the lines of copper, nickel, iron and the like, brought high hopes of those wanting to get rich fast. Though thousands had hope in making money from mining on their own, many excavators found little gold on their own efforts. Most needed to actually find work in mines. But, they almost got something even better. The v...
Overpopulation does not only affect humans and put a greater risk of getting in a vehicular wreck caused by a deer running out in the highways and interstates, but it has tremendous effect on environmental
Is this additional expense necessary? Why or why not? Yes, this additional expense is necessary and mining affects the plant and animal population, hydrological cycle. And it’s necessary to maintain this for sustainable development. Q5.
Colorado also has a rich mining history which began in about 1859 with the discovery of gold and development of new reserves, Colorado’s present day industry is a modern, innovative, safe and environmentally responsible citizen that extracts a wide variety of minerals such as; gold, Marble, and gypsum from the earth, valued at more than $2 billion each year. (Colorado Mining Association, 2007)
Overpopulation has become a drastic issue, for no one knows how many people the earth
Hardin argues how the world only has so many resources and opportunities for agriculture to be expended. Therefore, with enough increase in population, these resources will become extinct. Thus, humans will run out of food and eventually starve to death. As Hardin declares, “a finite world can only support a finite population” (Hardin 98).
The Philippines is a country that has been destroyed by widespread poverty. The economic concerns in this country have multiplied in the past decade. There are many causes to the many problems and not enough effective reforms to rectify them. They currently have a population of 88 million people, and it is expanding rapidly. An increasing population with out enough jobs to sustain them increases the poverty level. In this country's case, the population growth was the major contributor to their high poverty level. We need to also take into account the location of this country and the natural disasters that they encounter. There are 22 active volcanoes in the Philippines and 88 inactive ones. Just this year, there have been seven earthquakes or predicted earthquakes. They constantly have landslide and tsunamis, and on the average, they are affected by 15 major storms a year. They are normally hit with al least 5 or 6 of them. With all these problems affecting their agriculture, their struggle to decrease their poverty levels and improve their way of life is a constant challenge. 77.4% of the country's GDP is public debt. The 2000 Philippine Human Development Report says that even though their economy is inactive, they are doing very well. Even though nearly half...
The underlying theme in each of the sentences above is population control. In each case the rationale is that the earth's six billion people exceed the planet's "carrying capacity." The planet is on the brink of a demographic catastrophe. The consumption of precious resources (land, food, water, clean air) threatens the earth's environment and the diversity of species. Short of exterminating half the world's people, what is to be done?
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.
Philippines: Country Profile 2004 1 Dec. 2004 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2004 15 Dec. 2004 www.eiu.com
Today talking about environmental issues lately to be like a common topic discussion until people take it for granted. However, the world facing a complex environmental problems related to each trouble that connected to one another and come out with greater impacts to the environment and humans. This is because the effects of environmental only can be seen in long term period rather than immediately result show up. Environmental issues must become one of the controversial matters in the society in order to make people know the truth what the world currently facing. There were a lot of environmental disaster happened such as climate change, global warming, various of pollutions, earthquake and etc. the rise of environmental issues begin with this urban development occur through several countries following with the technologies equip along. For sure, development will cause a huge negative impact to the environment if it deals without a care. Besides, the environment is the place in the ecosystem to hold and use in finding resources to continuously survive in this world. Thus, the finding and digging for the resources which happening extensively without preservation will not restore the surrounding similar with before. But then, the change cannot be refuse and people need to take an action to save the threaten the world and the ecosystem from being extinct. If each country has own output in causing an environmental problem, then consider the world to hold all the damage occurred. Exposing the effects of environmental issues throughout the world, make people realize the important to take care the environment.
The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.