Our Environment: A Health Crisis - and what we must do to heal it

As efforts across the globe to curb the future destruction of climate change continue to evolve, it is important to recognize that we are already seeing the dangerous effects of a damaged environment. Our health and mental well-being are being threatened as we continue to release harmful chemicals into our atmosphere. Studies have suggested that millions more people across the world are in danger of environmental-related health crises in the coming decades unless there is dramatic and meaningful change in the way we approach protecting our environment. Policy endeavors are being made at the international level, as seen with the Paris Agreement and recent UN Environmental Assembly negotiations, as well as at the Congressional and state legislature level here in the United States and elsewhere; however, the continued struggle against a powerful lobby has yet to yield the type of drastic resolutions that have been proposed in order to successfully combat the threat of climate change and rapid environmental degradation. This article will more deeply examine exactly how the pollution of our air and negligence in valuing green spaces is harming human health; and what needs to be done to stop these processes and save lives