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Home > Topics > Physical Environment

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Definitions

Physical environment – the material and tangible conditions in which we live

Physical environment includes

• Natural environment – air, noise, water, greenspace
• Built environment – houses, roads, transport systems, buildings, infrastructure
  (Built environment includes internal environment and external environment.)
• Socio-economic and Cultural – the social and economic characteristics of the societies and communities in which we live

Effect on health

The physical environment is an important determinant of health influencing the prospects of health in many ways. Air quality affects people’s health and especially that of people with respiratory disease. Infectious disease may be transmitted through water. Quality of housing affects many aspects of people’s health. The attractiveness of the environment influences people’s readiness to be physically active and to socialise with their neighbours. Toxic materials in the environment can cause disease and interfere with development. Road design and transport systems affect the risk of accidents. Access to green space is good for mental health.

Greenhouse gases and climate change

One important way in which man is damaging his environment is through emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The rise in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is resulting in global warming and climate change. Unless we drastically reduce the weight of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere the ability of the planet to support life will be seriously damaged. The government has therefore set a target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050.

The NHS has to play its part and is following a strategy to reduce the carbon emissions resulting from NHS activity.

• Community Health Profiles: Environment
  Health Profiles provide a snapshot of health for each local council in England using key health indicators, which enables comparison locally, regionally and over time.
  There are two indicators relating to the environment; from the 2008 profiles "Carbon Footprint" and the 2007 profiles included "Air Quality".

• Saving Carbon, Improving Health: NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England
  The strategy sets an ambition for the NHS to help drive change towards a low carbon society. The strategy shows the scale of reduction in carbon required for the NHS to progress towards the Climate Change Act requirements and recommends key actions for the NHS to become a leading sustainable and low carbon organisation.
• Sustainable development and wellbeing: relationships, challenges and policy implications
  This report forms Project 3b of DEFRA’s review of evidence for relationships between well-being and sustainable development, undertaken as part of the UK government’s 2005 sustainable development strategy, Securing the Future. It reviews a range of evidence from economics, psychology, epidemiology and other disciplines, highlighting a number of connects and disconnects between well-being and environmental sustainability. It further identifies key challenges and policy implications for a transition towards one-planet living.

• Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
  CPRE campaigns for a sustainable future for the English countryside, a vital but undervalued environmental, economic and social asset to the nation. They highlight threats and promote positive solutions. Their in-depth research supports active campaigning, and through reasoned argument and lobbying they seek to influence public opinion and decision-makers at every level.
• NHS Sustainable Development Unit (NHS SDU)
  The NHS SDU for England is a small unit of seven people in Cambridge who provide leadership, support and policy input to ensure the NHS in England is the leading public sector organisation in promoting sustainable development and mitigating climate change.
• Sustainable development Commission
  The Sustainable Development Commission is the Government's independent adviser on sustainable development, reporting to the Prime Minister, the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Through advocacy, advice and appraisal, we help put sustainable development at the heart of Government policy.
• Sustrans - Sustainable transport charity
  Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Their vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. Every day they are working on practical, innovative ways of dealing with the transport challenges that affect us all.