Introduction
Healthy environments quietly support life every day, yet their role in sustaining health often goes unnoticed until disruption occurs. Air quality, water availability, soil integrity, and climate stability shape the conditions that allow people and animals to thrive over time. These elements are not separate from health systems; they are foundational to them. When environmental balance is maintained, biological systems function with greater resilience. Understanding environmental sustainability means recognizing how natural systems support health across species and generations.
What if protecting health begins not in clinical settings, but in safeguarding the environments that make health possible?
How Environmental Systems Sustain Human Health
Human health is closely tied to the quality of the surrounding environment. Clean air supports respiratory and cardiovascular function, safe water reduces exposure to infectious agents, and stable climates limit chronic physiological stress. When environmental systems are compromised, health risks often increase gradually, appearing long after the initial disruption has occurred [1] [4].
Environmental sustainability supports prevention by maintaining conditions that reduce long-term exposure to harmful stressors. Rather than addressing illness after it develops, sustainable environmental systems help limit cumulative risk. This reinforces the connection between ecosystem integrity and population health, highlighting prevention as a system-level outcome rather than an individual action.
Natural Resources and Long-Term Resilience
Natural resources form the backbone of environmental sustainability. Forests regulate temperature and air quality, wetlands filter water and reduce flooding, and soil systems support food production and nutrient cycling. These resources operate as interconnected networks, meaning disruption in one area can affect many others.
When natural resources are depleted or degraded, the effects ripple across ecosystems and human communities. Food systems become less stable, water quality declines, and exposure to environmental hazards increases. Protecting these resources supports resilience by preserving the systems that regulate health over time and buffer populations against environmental stress [2].
Environmental Sustainability and Animal Health
Animal health provides important insight into environmental conditions. Changes in wildlife behavior, livestock health, and species distribution often signal environmental stress before human health impacts are evident. Animals can act as early indicators of ecosystem imbalance, reflecting exposure to pollution, habitat disruption, or climate variability [3].
Maintaining environmental sustainability supports animal health by preserving habitats, food sources, and stable ecological conditions. In turn, healthier animal populations contribute to ecosystem balance, reinforcing shared health outcomes across species. This interconnected relationship highlights how animal health and environmental integrity are tightly linked to broader system stability.
Built Environments and Everyday Exposure
While natural systems are essential, built environments shape daily exposure to environmental conditions. Housing quality, transportation systems, and urban design influence air quality, noise levels, temperature regulation, and access to green space. These factors affect stress regulation, physical activity, and long-term health outcomes.
Environmentally sustainable design within built environments can reduce exposure to pollutants, improve thermal comfort, and support healthier daily routines. Recognizing the role of built systems expands sustainability beyond conservation to include how people live, move, and recover within their surroundings.
A One Health Approach
A One Health approach emphasizes that environmental sustainability is inseparable from human and animal health. Ecosystem integrity, biodiversity, and climate stability shape disease patterns, food systems, and physiological resilience across species.
By integrating environmental science with public health and animal health research, One Health provides a framework for understanding how sustainable systems prevent harm before it occurs. This approach highlights shared dependence on environmental conditions rather than treating health outcomes as isolated events.
Conclusion
Health does not exist independently of the environment that supports it. Environmental sustainability protects the air, water, ecosystems, and natural resources that allow human and animal health systems to function over time. When viewed through a One Health lens, sustainability becomes a foundation for prevention rather than a separate objective. Could long-term health depend less on intervention and more on preserving the systems that quietly sustain life every day?
References
- Landrigan, P. J., Fuller, R., Acosta, N. J. R., et al. (2018). The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. The Lancet, 391(10119), 462–512. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0
- Foley, J. A., Ramankutty, N., Brauman, K. A., et al. (2011). Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature, 478(7369), 337–342. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10452
- O’Brien, D. J., Schmitt, S. M., Fitzgerald, S. D., et al. (2011). Managing the wildlife–livestock interface. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 102(2), 100–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.04.003
- Watts, N., Amann, M., Arnell, N., et al. (2018). The 2018 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change. The Lancet, 392(10163), 2479–2514. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32594-7
