Environmental Justice and Health

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Environmental Justice and Health
The environment plays an essential role in the well-being of communities across the globe. Human beings are dependent on their surroundings since they provide both a habitat and sources of survival, such as food that maintain a healthy life. Therefore, environmental aspects such as air, land, and water are determinants of health for communities. Any changes in the quality of these aspects can negatively impact the health of individuals, thus leading to direct social inequities (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). Consequently, environmental health disparities caused by improper use or the actions of others disenfranchise communities, hence the need for environmental justice to provide protection and fair treatment for all.
Segregation in some cities results in poor and unhealthy living conditions that affect the health of communities in such areas. In most cases, poor minorities who form a significant portion of the population are forced to live in congested neighborhoods without adequate sanitary provisions, clean water, and unpoluted air (Dwyer). Data shows that five are disproportionately higher among low-income and minority groups in the United States (Dwyer). As a result, the prevalence of diseases in such areas is relatively high, with individuals prone to catch a number of diseases. Such environmental hazards increase mortality rates and reduce life expectancy (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). Therefore, problems in their surrounding environment pose a danger to such marginalized communities.
Environmental justice aims to right the wrongs committed to the environment to promote healthy practices. Such fair treatment starts from the planning to implement appropriate procedures and policies and laws to prevent the spread of environmental health disparities (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). To reduce the potential effects of environmental health disparities, interventions are required to provide actionable solutions. For instance, climate change has led to approximately 160,000 to 300,00 deaths annually due to an ...