Ecology is a branch of biology that focuses on the study of the interactions of living beings in ecosystems. However, the term ecology is closely related in a social way to care for the environment and health. Therefore, there is a relationship between ecology and health in a social way that is convenient to point out.
For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to tell you about the relationship between ecology and health, its characteristics and importance.
Characteristics of ecology
Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment, or the distribution and abundance of organisms, and how these properties are affected by interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment includes physical properties that can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors (such as climate and geology) and other organisms that share that habitat (biotic factors).
It can be considered human ecology the study of the relationship between humans and their environment and the exchange of energy with other living species (plants, animals and different human groups). Additionally, the discipline has a chapter on cultural ecology, which studies the adaptation of human groups to natural resources and the presence of other human groups; and social ecology, which considers the social structure of human groups as a result of all relationships with the environment.
An ecosystem is a system made up of a natural community of organisms. That is, it consists of a biotic component (a group of organisms: flora and fauna) and an abiotic component (its physical environment). In systems, including humans, social relationships are also constitutive.
Relationship between ecology and health
The interaction of ecosystem elements and the 'unnatural' evolution of population growth give importance to ecological aspects in terms of population health. Culture is a characteristic of human beings. The way of doing things, the way of interacting with nature, and the way of developing technology to adapt to the environment are all cultures.
Due to the development of knowledge and technology, human beings can better preserve offspring, preserve and prolong life, and create special conditions to enhance the ability to resist foreign aggression. The extraordinary increase in population is therefore the result of this capacity. At the same time, population numbers put pressure on the natural environment to make it even more inhospitable for human existence. The evidence suggests that population growth has been slowing down, and that by 2050 the world population will stabilize at a figure that cannot exceed 10 billion: well below what the statistics show.
Overexploitation of natural resources
Even more important than growth is the way humans treat nature. Knowledge enables people to make better use of natural resources by developing technologies that improve work efficiency. However, this overexploitation does not take into account the impact of resource depletion. In the case of agricultural development, this is compounded by the harmful effects of agrochemicals on the soil and living beings, including the human being himself. In addition, Quality of life improvements introduce technologies that ultimately change the quality of life.
Much of the pollutants released into the environment come from the production of more food, goods, and comforts; however, the rate of use of certain means of production does not take into account the accepting capacity of nature.
Today we talk about sustainable development, understanding that the quality of life increases and everyone has access to goods and services so that the human activities involved in production do not put future generations at risk for the use of natural resources. The carrying capacity (or carrying capacity) is the maximum size of a population that a territory can accommodate without degrading its natural heritage and allowing that population to maintain a certain level of well-being in perpetuity. This capacity is related to the function of the territory to the population; between
They are the natural place on earth, the source of matter and energy for human life, and the collection place for all the waste generated by human activities. But this relationship (population/territory) also depends on their own patterns of production and consumption, determined by cultural and economic factors. According to United Nations estimates, by the end of this century, the most developed countries, which concentrate 25% of the world's population, have produced 75% of human material waste. In terms of energy use, based on world oil consumption per capita of 1.600 tons, the most developed countries consume more than 4.800 tons, while the least developed countries consume less than 900 tons.
Relationship between ecology and health with pollution
Air pollution is one of the most common and serious problems in large cities. When pollutant loads are exacerbated by climatic or topographical factors in addition to size, breathing the air itself constitutes a health risk factor. For example, in Santiago de Chile the relationship between air pollution and the incidence of respiratory symptoms was studied, hospitals being most in need of this cause on days of high contamination.
The same was observed in Mexico, DF and other megacities. CO2 in the first city rises to critical levels, forcing restrictions on the movement of private cars (causing 90% of pollution) that have been in place for decades. However, the park
Cars increase and there is no manufacturing limit. This phenomenon is observed all over the world. But the biggest problem of air pollution is global warming, it is the cause of climate change and natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis, El Niño, droughts, etc. in recent years. The melting of the poles seems to be a threat in the near future.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the relationship between ecology and health.