Standard+4.3.12.a

Standard 4.3.10.B - Explain multiple variables that effect environmental health Humans effect environmental health in many different ways. We cause many pollution problems through our burning of fossil fuels,dumping of hazardous and industrial waste and spraying of pesticides. The products humans use often contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment. For example Volatile Organic Compounds can be found in every human product from paints to deodorants to cleaning chemicals and this pollutant contributes to ground-level ozone. Humans contaminate rivers and streams by dumping point pollution such as industrial waste from factories which can kill wildlife and endanger drinking water. The over spraying of pesticides and fertilizers allow runoff to enter bodies of water. When chemicals such as pesticides and waste contaminate the water they can also get into our food supple of fish and other aquatic organisms.

Natural events can also have a large impact on environmental health. The fires naturally that occur at Yellowstone National Park happen historically every 25 to 65 years in the lower grasslands and every 250 to 400 years in the center forests and are usually statred by lightning. These fires are an example of natural regulation which is the idea of allowing nature to regulate itself with little human interference. The fires help the ecosystem by speeding up the recycling of nutrients in dead trees and the intense heat may weather the soil and allow it to release more minerals. Although devastating to organisms caught in its blaze these fires help Yellowstone National Park thrive as an ecosystem.

Standard 4.3.12.A- Nuclear Waste A major environmental health issue facing the world today is nuclear waste and how to safely and economically dispose of it. Worldwide there is about 220,000 tons of nuclear waste a year at a grow rate of 10,000 tons and no permanent solution on how to safely dispose of the waste has been discovered. Currently the waste is being buried deep underground in storage containers but there is no real way to see right now if this will contain the radiation. To try to limit this pollution and its effects on the environment governments from around the world are pumping billions of dollars into programs to find more environmentally safe ways to dispose of the waste (Greenpeace 2008)