The Implications of Environmental Abuse on Health and Socio – Economic wellbeing in Developing Countries: A focus on Pollution and Deforestation

The Implications of Environmental Abuse on Health and Socio – Economic wellbeing in Developing Countries: A focus on Pollution and Deforestation

¹Abanyam, Noah Lumun; ²Samaila Buba& ²Hamadu, Jennifer Hunleyedi

¹Department of Sociology, Taraba State University, Jalingo. Taraba State, Nigeria

²Department of Geography, Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State Nigeria

Email: noahlumun@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The earth produces clean air, nourishing food, fresh water and vegetation. However, environmental abuse of these natural processes is increasingly causing serious health risk and socio-economic challenges. This study examines the implications of environmental abuse on health and socio-economic wellbeing in developing countries focusing on pollution and deforestation. Tragedy of the common theory was used in analyzing the study. The study found that environmental abuse causes climate change which continue to increase threats to human health, impacts on thermal stress, death, injury, floods, and storm and indirectly through change in the ranges of disease vectors such as mosquitoes, water-borne pathogens, biodiversity deflection, erosion, water quality, air quality, and food availability and quality. The story also revealed that environmental abuse such as deforestation, wide spread hunting, air pollution and water pollution are the disastrous consequences or commonest effects associated with drought, desertification, frequent cases of floods, starvation as well as ill-health such as respiratory illness, heart disease, long cancer, cholera, typhoid fever, food contamination and highrate of warm infection. The study recommended that there should be a coordinate global approach aimed at cutting down greenhouse gas. More so, there should capacity building to integrate climate change and its impacts into development planning involving local communities, raising public awareness and education on the implications of environmental abuse on the health socio-economic wellbeing. The study concludes that scientific attention, effective implementation of law against environmental abuse, and excessive campaign against environmental abuse should be the corner stone in eradicating all forms of pollutions and deforestation in developing countries.

Keywords: Implications, Environmental Abuse, Health, Socio-economic wellbeing, Developing Countries, Pollution, Deforestation