Where Water and Wellbeing Intersect: The Great Lakes and its People

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/hh63sx225

Abstract

People who live in resource-dependent communities are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts that climate change and environmental degradation may have on their mental health and wellbeing. Resource-dependent communities rely heavily on environmentally extractive production activities for income, a sense of identity, and factors that influence the quality of life. Existing research on how the environment and natural resources can influence mental health suggests that to adequately understand where these connections lie, the links between individual communities and particular types of resources must be examined.

In the last 100 years, the Great Lakes region has experienced temperature and precipitation changes because of climate change, and the wellbeing of the people living in this area is at risk due to how they rely on safe and accessible water. This thesis explores how environmental change impacts the health of individuals, the bonds of communities, and the stability of economies within the Great Lakes Basin. A scoping review of 21 sources reveals that these impacts are partitioned between health, community, and economy and that these consequences can ultimately influence the mental health and wellbeing of people who depend on freshwater resources.

Creator