Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
average ways of living. In Australia, as in other modern affluent societies, the
availability of processed energy-dense foods has increased over recent decades,
as has the tempo of commercial advertisement (especially directed to children
and young people). To compound the effect, with labour-saving devices at
home, at work and to transport us, and with television and electronic gadgetry
to distract us from outdoor recreation, our daily level of physical activity has
steadily fallen. The net result is a systemic daily energy imbalance leading inex-
orably to a rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. Fifteen years ago,
around one-quarter of adult Australians were classified as overweight; today
the figure is around half, and rising. Accordingly, we need to change societal
priorities in food production and consumption, and to design cities and work-
places in ways that ensure that adequate physical activity is undertaken. Mean-
while, there is nascent recognition of the risks to human health - both now
and in the future - posed by global climate change and other global environ-
mental changes, and associated developments in formal research methods
(Martens
2002).
So how should we view health in relation to sustainability? We may think
of population health as an input to economic development (McMichael
2002). This, while partially relevant, is a utilitarian view of health. We may
express concern over the health risks, physical and mental, attendant upon
industrialisation and economic growth. This is a janitorial approach, seeking
to tidy up after society. Or, unusually, we may think in larger-framed, eco-
logical, terms, and treat population health as a centrepiece of the Sustaina-
bility Debate.
Viewed within this frame, we can appreciate that some of the celebrated
health gains of recent decades have been achieved partly at the expense of the
world's natural capital. This is not easy arithmetic to do, nor are all the costs
incurred directly. The following examples illustrate some of the likely 'down-
side' aspects (mostly ecological accounts that are yet unpaid) of recent gains
in life expectancy.
et al.
•
The agricultural 'Green Revolution' that occurred in many
developing countries during the 1970s and 1980s via the planting of
high-yield grain crops and increased use of irrigation, fertilisers and
pesticides enhanced local food security. However, in the process it
damaged much arable land via irrigation, fertilisation, compacting
and erosion.
