CO2 Emissions And Environmental Degradation

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
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ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
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Critical analysis of a global issue in the context of the common good:
In the catholic social teaching, the principle of the common good is based on the
understanding that human beings are created as a social being and hence, the human being is
always in interdependence and interrelated with each other (Kristensen, Taylor & Flegal, 2017).
To comply with the principle of the common good, each individual must have sufficient and
equal access to the resources and goods so that every member of the society can live a purposeful
life. Hence, the rights of the individuals to the community resources and personal possessions
must be balanced with the individuals who are disadvantageous. However, the development of
global issue repeatedly highlighted that shared responsibility for the common good is not being
realized by the population. One such example is environmental pollution which has a range of
impact on health and education. Nan et al. (2020), suggested that urbanization and
industrialization around the globe led to high energy consumption and discharges of waste.
Consequently, the common impact on health includes perinatal disorders, respiratory disorders,
allergy, malignancy and cardiovascular disorder, endothelial dysfunction. While the safe and
pollution-free environment is shared responsibility that promotes the common good, human
activities such as the development of various industries and industrial waste product from
heating, agriculture, mining, transportation and manufacturing failed to promote the common
good. School going children in polluted areas had lower cognitive scores than school-going
children in a clear area, indicating it has a severe impact on education as well. Considering the
global context, environmental pollution contributed to 7 million deaths every year where
technology caused 3.8 million deaths (Www.aph.gov.au., 2020). In Australia, approximately
3000 Australians died from exposure to air pollution each year. The other health impacts of
environmental pollution include premature birth of 233 babies with reduced body weight, 361

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
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people developing type 2 diabetes and 2,614 years of life lost each year (Jeffreys, Graves &
Roth, 2018). Environmental pollution, especially air pollution has a neurodegenerative impact
that leads to lower memory and learning capacity. These statistical representations and facts
further intensifying the need for comprehensive strategies where shared responsibility for the
common good is realized.
Strategies to address the challenge:
Climate change has been a critical issue worldwide since the 21st century where
Australia is no exception. The world health organization highlighted that one of the major
impacts of environmental pollution is climate change that has a severe negative impact on the
health and wellbeing of the population around the globe. The world health organization is
supporting a range of developing countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas, recycle the
products and implementation of water and energy conservation practices. Hence, three
comprehensive strategies that can address the challenge are the following:
1. Reduce emissions of greenhouse gas:
Emissions of greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels are associated with
environmental population since these pollutants originated from natural or man-made resources.
Consequently, the impacts include photochemical smog, acid rain that resulted in various health
issues and premature mortality rate (Jeffreys, Graves & Roth, 2018). The world health
organization suggested that an effective way of reducing carbon emission is to use better
transportation since transport is responsible for 93 Mt CO2-e (17%) (Sarkodie & Strezov, 2018).
In the global context, the alternative way of driving is walking, riding a cycle and driving cars
that are fluent efficient. Walking and riding a bicycle will reduce the use of cars that contribute
to carbon emission and promote the common good. The nursing professionals can advocate for