The Regional Impacts of the 2008-2009 Global Economic Crisis on Environmental Health

Abstract

In this study, we examine the regional impacts of the 2008-2009 global economic crisis on Environmental Health. We also look into the impacts on Environmental Health’s components which include Environmental Burden of Disease Trend, Air Pollution (on humans), Water (on humans), and on their subcomponents (i.e. Child Mortality, Indoor Air Pollution, Particulate Matter, Access to Drinking Water, and Access to Sanitation). We examine six regions of the world (namely the Americas, Asia and Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Subsaharan Africa). Our results indicate that the “Environmental Health” indicator significantly deteriorated in all regions except for Europe. When we examine the components and the subcomponents, we find that most of them deteriorated significantly in these regions. For Europe, interestingly, our results show that Environmental Health actually improved after the crisis (although Water (on humans) and Access to Drinking Water declined). Our results imply that different regions had different reactions to the crisis. While most countries and regions could not handle the economic crisis well, it is clear that the European countries were more successful in their efforts.