Content by: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
Source: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
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Almost 97% of the Earth’s water is salt water. It contains so many minerals that people (and animals) cannot drink it. Plants cannot use it either. Desalinization, the process of removing the salt, is expensive and time-consuming. Most of the non-salty or fresh water, furthermore, is frozen at the North and South poles. No one knows how much of the Earth’s water was salty millions of years ago, or exactly what effect changes such as global warming will have on the availability of fresh water. And, fresh water is not always close to where people are, especially as cities grow. We need to plan for how to use the water we do have for agricultural, industrial, and personal use.
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Content by: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
Source: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
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The problem is complicated. About half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. Even if the cost of food and other items is relatively low, compared to European countries or the U.S., these people often cannot afford enough nutritional food. The simplest way to end hunger is to fight poverty.
Government subsidies to farmers in developed countries can cause unfair competition with farmers in developing countries, often driving these farmers into poverty (and hunger). Countries must also invest in a distribution system (roads and storage facilities) that can get food to the people who need it.
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Content by: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
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If people go hungry doesn’t that simply mean that their country has too many people for the amount of food that they grow?
This is one of the great myths about hunger and malnutrition. If this were true, hunger would only exist in countries that are densely populated. But, Nigeria and Brazil – and even the United States – have huge numbers of hungry people and yet are huge exporters of food. Lack of access to food, not overpopulation, causes hunger.
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Content by: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
Source: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
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EIDs include diseases that have jumped from wildlife populations to humans, diseased that have become more frequent, and diseased that are entirely new to science. Examples of EIDs include HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, and SARS.
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Content by: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
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Pathogen pollution refers to the introduction of disease-causing microbes (pathogens) and/or their hosts (infected individuals) to new locations around the world. European bird species, including pigeons and the house sparrow, for example, introduced West Nile virus to the United States.
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Content by: EcoHealth101 – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
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In 1998, scientists discovered that a fungal disease, called chytridiomycosis, had infected a wide range of frog species around the world. Experts believe that the bull frog, sold internationally through the food and pet trade, carries this disease. As a result, chytridiomycosis spreads as bull frogs come into contact with other species of frogs.
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