climate change - Our Green Health

How Air Pollution Affects our Health and Destroys Flora and Fauna

04/02/2022 by Tom van Oosterhout

Air pollution affects our health in a very direct way. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that air pollution kills “an estimated seven million people worldwide every year”.

The toxic agents causing this disaster are particulate matter, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. These toxic agents are released by household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities, and forest fires.

At this very moment, we all breathe air that exceeds the guidelines of the WHO. Low and middle-income countries suffer the most.

Climate Change and Statistics are Inextricably Connected

15/12/2021 by Tom van Oosterhout

Climate change and statistics are a much-debated issue. That is because, more in general, statistics tend to predict the future. In the case of climate change, our future looks rather bleak.

To produce climate change statistics is a highly professional job, requiring meticulously applied scientific, mathematical methods. Only very few professionals know the ins and outs of these methods.

This is probably why the United Nations (UN) generated its climate statistics from 130 countries across the globe. The UN also debated the indicators for their climate change statistics with these countries. This bottom-up approach must provide the much-needed trust.

What We Can Do about Climate Change and Why We Should

22/11/2021 by Tom van Oosterhout

What we can do about climate change has become a major challenge for us.

We are so disappointed with the outcome of the climate conference in Glasgow!

This disappointment brought back a phrase I read a couple of weeks ago ‘The climate changes only in Glasgow!’ I read it originally in Spanish: El clima solo cambia en Glasgow!

The person who shared this outcry probably meant that nobody in Spain cares about climate change.

How to Have a Healthy Lifestyle that Contributes to Longevity?

06/01/202227/10/2021 by Tom van Oosterhout

How to have a healthy lifestyle that contributes to longevity is a challenging issue. We’ve addressed this issue before. In this article, we present a new perspective by summarizing the key elements.

Fortunately, most people are in good health. They consciously arrange for a healthy lifestyle and longevity. They are very keen on adapting to a healthy lifestyle, are successful in doing so, and are very happy about it.

We think that everybody can copy their behavior, to improve longevity and age successfully. The trick is to adapt our personal lifestyle to their example.

Can Technological Innovations Combat Climate Change?

11/10/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Al Gore was laughed at, at the time when he presented An Inconvenient Truth. If more politicians and engineers had taken him seriously, we would have had fewer problems with the climate today. In the case of climate change, prevention is also cheaper than a solution.

But with a despondent attitude, a turning point has never been achieved. Perhaps technological innovations can combat climate change?

Recently I watched some documentaries by and about Greta Thunberg. Her strongest comments were: “Don’t listen to me, listen to science” and “Stay hopeful, because from hope comes action”.

Why is Contribution and Reciprocity in Society Important and Sustainable?

24/09/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Both Tom and I talk a lot about contributing and reciprocity in society. With our friends. In our blog posts. In our Facebook posts. Most of the time this is about volunteering in some way or another. But there are many other ways.

Reciprocity in society is a common gesture. A neighbor smiles at us and next time when they are not at home, we collect their delivered goods from the courier.

Society is built on written and unwritten laws. Some are evident. You do not enter another person’s house without an invitation. Others are less obvious. For example, when you borrow your neighbors’ chainsaw, they might expect you to be extra careful when you use it.

19 Reasons Why Trees are Vital to the World, including Us

18/08/202118/08/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Even though I don’t want too many or big trees in our garden, I am well aware that trees are vital to the world. The only reason that I don’t want too many of them in our garden is that they wouldn’t have room to grow.

It’s kind of a luxury decision. After all, we live at the foot of a nature park that covers the mountains in front of our house. And behind the house is a little terrain covered with trees and shrubs. Plenty of trees in my environment to enjoy.

Low-Carbon Transportation is Not Enough, More is Urgently Required

04/08/2021 by Tom van Oosterhout

Low-carbon transportation is not enough to curb climate change. There is no longer any debate about the fact that combustion engines are unsustainable. Climate change is every day in the news.

Countries flood. Forests burn. Oceans are full of plastic. Biodiversity declines at an unprecedented rate. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat are full of toxins.

97% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a major contributor to climate change, comes from the direct burning of fossil fuels. Black carbon, a component of the particulate matter discharged in exhaust fumes, causes respiratory and carcinogenic diseases and is also a major contributor to climate change.