the use of living organisms to benefit the environment or human health
Answers
Answered by
1
The natural environment is the thin layer of life and life supports, called the biosphere, that contains the earth's air, soil, water, and living organisms. The connection between protecting the natural environment and safeguarding human health has been recognized for some time. In recent decades the focus of research and legislation has been identifying and regulating environmental toxics to reduce harmful human exposures. The effect of various environmental exposures, such as toxic chemicals, air pollution, and biological agents on the human body, is commonly perceived as the central problem in environmental health. However, maintaining a healthy environment extends beyond controlling these hazards.
The effect of various environmental exposures, such as toxic chemicals, air pollution, and biological agents on the human body, is commonly perceived as the central problem in environmental health. However, maintaining a healthy environment extends beyond controlling these hazards.
Preserving the variety of life on earth is also essential to human health. The natural world continually offers compounds that are useful to the pharmacopoeia. Animal and plant products are vital for research and diagnostic tools, and they can be used as indicators of pollution-related disease. Research suggests that biodiversity may hold a key to the prevention and treatment of many diseases (Lovejoy, 2001).
An even more direct connection between the environment and health is the potential enhancement of our physical, mental, and social well-being through our daily exposure to the natural environment. People's nearly universal preference for contact with the natural world—plants, animals, natural landscapes, the sea, and the wilderness—suggests that we as a species may find tranquility in certain natural environments and may derive health benefits from them (Frumkin, 2001). Recent research has confirmed this link. For example, hospitalized post-surgical patients (Ulrich, 1984), employees (Kaplan, 1992), and prisoners (Moore, 1981) have been shown to gain health benefits from exposure to views of nature. Health benefits have also been reported from viewing plants in gardens, interacting with animals (including pets), and participating in wilderness experiences (Frumkin, 2001). This evidence of health benefits from contact with the natural world suggests a broader paradigm of environmental health that includes health-giving environmental exposures (Frumkin, 2001).
The effect of various environmental exposures, such as toxic chemicals, air pollution, and biological agents on the human body, is commonly perceived as the central problem in environmental health. However, maintaining a healthy environment extends beyond controlling these hazards.
Preserving the variety of life on earth is also essential to human health. The natural world continually offers compounds that are useful to the pharmacopoeia. Animal and plant products are vital for research and diagnostic tools, and they can be used as indicators of pollution-related disease. Research suggests that biodiversity may hold a key to the prevention and treatment of many diseases (Lovejoy, 2001).
An even more direct connection between the environment and health is the potential enhancement of our physical, mental, and social well-being through our daily exposure to the natural environment. People's nearly universal preference for contact with the natural world—plants, animals, natural landscapes, the sea, and the wilderness—suggests that we as a species may find tranquility in certain natural environments and may derive health benefits from them (Frumkin, 2001). Recent research has confirmed this link. For example, hospitalized post-surgical patients (Ulrich, 1984), employees (Kaplan, 1992), and prisoners (Moore, 1981) have been shown to gain health benefits from exposure to views of nature. Health benefits have also been reported from viewing plants in gardens, interacting with animals (including pets), and participating in wilderness experiences (Frumkin, 2001). This evidence of health benefits from contact with the natural world suggests a broader paradigm of environmental health that includes health-giving environmental exposures (Frumkin, 2001).
Similar questions