Friday, April 30, 2010

The health costs of dirty energy

Many health problems are caused by our energy system.
I think there are about three main methods by which this happens:
1. Pollution
-Where it's coming from:
http://energyintransition.blogspot.com/2010/03/pollution-its-waste.html
-How it contributes to health problems:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Health_effects_of_pollution.png
http://www.epa.gov/region7/air/quality/health.htm
2. Climate change
-Where it's coming from:
http://energyintransition.blogspot.com/2010/03/climate-change-problem-and-solutions.html
-How it contributes to health problems:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/index.html
3. Energy poverty
Where it's coming from:
http://energyintransition.blogspot.com/2010/04/energy-poverty.html
-How it contributes to health problems:
http://www.iea.org/weo/implication.asp

Now,we're probably all wondering why this goes unchecked.
The first reason is that the effects are usually cumulative,it happens over time.While it won't suddenly kill you,it decreases quality of life-more than it does quantity of life.
The second reason health problems caused by our energy system go unchecked, is because there are so many "culprits",we don't know who to blame!
When almost every activity we do requires some energy,and nearly all of our energy comes from dirty fossil fuels,there's just way to many sources of pollution to trace.

But just because health problems from pollution take a while to show up,doesn't mean that it's not a problem.
""Air pollution is estimated to cause approximately two million premature deaths worldwide per year," said Michal Krzyzanowski, an air quality adviser at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. A World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that diseases triggered by indoor and outdoor air pollution kill 656,000 Chinese citizens each year, and polluted drinking water kills another 95,600.
In neighboring India, air pollution is believed to cause 527,700 fatalities a year. In the United States, premature deaths from toxic air pollutants are estimated at 41,200 annually."
(From National Geographic).

1 comment:

  1. Jeremiah,
    I agree wholeheartedly with you on this-->

    "just because health problems from pollution take a while to show up,doesn't mean that it's not a problem"

    However, it's very difficult to get most people to think long term (in fact, if you know of a way to move whole societies from short to long-term thinking, let me know; on second thought, go into politics and help us make this crucial social change!).

    ReplyDelete