Physical environment
About
The physical environment is where people live, learn, work and play. People interact with their physical environment through the air they breathe, the water they drink, the land they live on and the climate around them.
Relationship to health and equity
Health and well-being are connected to the health of the planet and the way we choose to construct or destruct the world around us. The decisions we make about our natural and built environment impact the health of communities, with people wielding power to better resource some communities and opportunities for health. Clean air, safe water and soil and climate adaptation and resilience are necessary for good health. Placement of highways and industry and decisions to fund public transportation and affordable housing impact community health. Air pollution, which is more common in communities of color and lower income communities, is associated with asthma and lung diseases. Contaminated water can lead to illness, developmental delay and cancer. Extreme weather events resulting from changes in the climate have led to premature death and economic devastation from heat, fires, floods and tornadoes, all falling hardest on marginalized, disinvested communities.
Relationship to systems and structures
Stark differences exist in opportunities to live in healthy physical environments between and within counties. This is especially true for marginalized and racialized communities, those perceived as being socially different from the racial or ethnic majority. These differences exist because of a legacy of discrimination, disinvestment and exploitation in the U.S. that have been enshrined in systems, policies and practices, such as corporate industrial abuses, legacies of broken land treaties and genocide. For example, in 1983 a study found that more than three-quarters of city- and privately-owned garbage dumps and incinerators in Houston, TX were in Black neighborhoods, although Black residents represented only 25% of the population. This study, along with several other actions related to landfills and garbage removal, was a seminal event in the environmental justice movement. In addition, policies have resulted in disproportionate numbers of people of color and those with lower incomes living in substandard housing that is vulnerable to power outages, which means they are more exposed to harm from extreme heat and repercussions from extreme storms. We can use our collective power to remedy the damage caused by unchecked capitalism, which transforms our basic needs like food, shelter, clean air and water into commodities to sell or take.
Additional reading
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Environmental justice timeline. https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-timeline