32  Unit 6: Solutions for a Sustainable Future — Unit Opening

Human activity is harming people and the planet. What can we do about it?

HS-ESS3-2 HS-ESS3-3 HS-ESS3-4 HS-ESS3-6 HS-ETS1-2 HS-ETS1-3 HS-ETS1-4 Time: 2 Days

🌍 Solutions for a Sustainable Future 🌍

33 Anchor Phenomenon

33.1 🌍 Human Activity Is Harming People and the Planet

How is human activity harming the health of humans and the natural environment? What solutions can actually work in the real world?

Air pollution kills millions. Forests are disappearing. Mining poisons communities. The health of people and the environment are deeply connected — when one suffers, so does the other.

In this unit, you’ll investigate the biggest ways humans are damaging the environment and our own health, and you’ll evaluate real solutions that could make a difference.

34 Unit Driving Question

34.0.1 How is human activity harming the health of humans and the natural environment? What solutions can address these problems and actually be implemented?

This question will guide everything you do in this unit. By the end, you’ll use data and models to argue which solutions deserve to be prioritized to protect both people and the planet.

35 What Makes This Unit Different?

In earlier units, you learned about Earth’s systems — climate, weather, plate tectonics. Now you’ll turn that knowledge toward the biggest challenge facing your generation: building a sustainable future.

Instead of just learning about problems, you’ll:

• 📊 Analyze real data on how pollution, land use, and mining affect health
• 🔬 Build computational models to test which solutions work best
• ⚖️ Evaluate trade-offs between effectiveness, cost, fairness, and speed
• 📢 Argue for solutions backed by evidence and reasoning

36 The Scale of the Problem

Let’s look at real data about how human activity is harming human health around the world.

Plot = require("@observablehq/plot")
d3 = require("d3@7")

envDeaths = [
  {cause: "Outdoor Air Pollution", deaths: 4.2, color: "#e17055"},
  {cause: "Household Air Pollution", deaths: 3.8, color: "#fdcb6e"},
  {cause: "Unsafe Water & Sanitation", deaths: 1.4, color: "#0984e3"},
  {cause: "Lead Exposure", deaths: 0.9, color: "#6c5ce7"},
  {cause: "Occupational Hazards", deaths: 0.7, color: "#00b894"},
  {cause: "Climate Change Impacts", deaths: 0.3, color: "#d63031"}
]

Plot.plot({
  title: "Estimated Annual Deaths from Environmental Causes (millions)",
  subtitle: "Source: World Health Organization",
  width: 750,
  height: 400,
  marginLeft: 200,
  x: {label: "Deaths (millions)", domain: [0, 5]},
  y: {label: null},
  marks: [
    Plot.barX(envDeaths, {
      y: "cause",
      x: "deaths",
      fill: "color",
      sort: {y: "-x"}
    ,
        tip: true}),
    Plot.text(envDeaths, {
      y: "cause",
      x: "deaths",
      text: d => `${d.deaths}M`,
      dx: 15,
      fontSize: 14,
      fontWeight: "bold"
    }),
    Plot.ruleX([0])
  ]
})

🤯 Over 11 million people die every year from environmental causes linked to human activity. That’s more than the populations of New York City and Los Angeles combined — every single year.

37 Where Are People Most Affected?

The damage isn’t spread equally. Some regions — and some communities — bear a much heavier burden.

regionData = [
  {region: "East Asia", airPollution: 62, water: 8, lead: 12},
  {region: "South Asia", airPollution: 58, water: 25, lead: 15},
  {region: "Eastern Europe", airPollution: 45, water: 5, lead: 8},
  {region: "Sub-Saharan Africa", airPollution: 38, water: 35, lead: 18},
  {region: "Western Europe", airPollution: 25, water: 1, lead: 3},
  {region: "North America", airPollution: 18, water: 1, lead: 4}
]

regionLong = regionData.flatMap(d => [
  {region: d.region, cause: "Air Pollution", rate: d.airPollution},
  {region: d.region, cause: "Unsafe Water", rate: d.water},
  {region: d.region, cause: "Lead Exposure", rate: d.lead}
])

Plot.plot({
  title: "Deaths per 100,000 People by Region and Cause",
  subtitle: "Not everyone faces the same level of risk",
  width: 750,
  height: 400,
  marginLeft: 140,
  color: {
    domain: ["Air Pollution", "Unsafe Water", "Lead Exposure"],
    range: ["#e17055", "#0984e3", "#6c5ce7"],
    legend: true
  },
  x: {label: "Deaths per 100,000"},
  y: {label: null},
  marks: [
    Plot.barX(regionLong, Plot.stackX({
      y: "region",
      x: "rate",
      fill: "cause",
      sort: {y: "-x"}
    ,
        tip: true})),
    Plot.ruleX([0])
  ]
})

37.0.1 📝 Notice & Wonder

Study the two charts above. In your notebook, write:

1. What patterns do you notice about which environmental causes kill the most people?
2. What do you wonder about why some regions are hit so much harder than others?
3. Does anything surprise you? What additional information would help you understand these patterns?
4. How might the problems be connected — could solving one problem help solve another?

38 Unit Storyline Overview

38.0.1 Three Investigations — One Big Goal

Each chapter investigates a different way human activity harms people and the planet. In every chapter, you’ll evaluate real-world solutions. At the end, you’ll put it all together and argue for which solutions should be prioritized.

38.0.2 🔥 Chapter 1: Burning Fossil Fuels (7–9 days)

Investigative Phenomenon: Around the world, millions of people and organisms are dying as a result of burning fossil fuels, but the damage is not equally distributed.

Key Questions: Why does burning fossil fuels cause so many deaths? How can we evaluate and refine solutions to reduce them?

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38.0.3 🌳 Chapter 2: Land Use and Biodiversity (6–8 days)

Investigative Phenomenon: 350 New Yorkers die every year from the urban heat island effect, and the risk is not equally distributed across neighborhoods.

Key Questions: How do land use changes affect the health of people and biodiversity? How can we stabilize systems that have been destabilized?

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38.0.4 ⛏️ Chapter 3: Mining (7–9 days)

Investigative Phenomenon: In the United States, areas around coal mines in Appalachia have higher rates of lung disease, heart disease, and cancer.

Key Questions: How can we evaluate and compare solutions that reduce the health damage caused by mining?

HS-ESS3-2

38.0.5 📢 Unit Closing: Evaluating Solutions (3 days)

Performance Task: Use a model to analyze the combined impacts of every solution you evaluated and argue which solutions should be prioritized to protect people and the planet.

HS-ESS3-2 HS-ETS1-2

39 How Connected Are These Problems?

The problems you’ll investigate aren’t isolated — they’re deeply intertwined. Explore the connections below:

{
  const width = 750;
  const height = 500;
  const svg = d3.create("svg").attr("width", width).attr("height", height).attr("viewBox", `0 0 ${width} ${height}`);

  svg.append("rect").attr("width", width).attr("height", height).attr("fill", "#f8f9fa").attr("rx", 15);
  svg.append("text").attr("x", width/2).attr("y", 30).attr("text-anchor", "middle")
    .attr("font-size", 18).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#2d3436")
    .text("How Human Activities Connect to Health & Environmental Impacts");

  const activities = [
    {x: 150, y: 80, label: "🔥 Burning\nFossil Fuels", color: "#e17055"},
    {x: 375, y: 80, label: "🏗️ Changing\nLand Use", color: "#00b894"},
    {x: 600, y: 80, label: "⛏️ Mining\nResources", color: "#6c5ce7"}
  ];

  const envChanges = [
    {x: 100, y: 230, label: "Air\nPollution", color: "#fdcb6e"},
    {x: 250, y: 230, label: "Climate\nChange", color: "#ff7675"},
    {x: 400, y: 230, label: "Habitat\nLoss", color: "#55efc4"},
    {x: 550, y: 230, label: "Water\nContamination", color: "#74b9ff"},
    {x: 700, y: 230, label: "Soil\nDegradation", color: "#a29bfe"}
  ];

  const health = [
    {x: 150, y: 400, label: "Respiratory\nDisease", color: "#fab1a0"},
    {x: 300, y: 400, label: "Cancer", color: "#ff7675"},
    {x: 450, y: 400, label: "Heart\nDisease", color: "#fd79a8"},
    {x: 600, y: 400, label: "Ecosystem\nCollapse", color: "#00cec9"}
  ];

  const connections = [
    {x1: 150, y1: 110, x2: 100, y2: 210, c: "#e1705555"},
    {x1: 150, y1: 110, x2: 250, y2: 210, c: "#e1705555"},
    {x1: 375, y1: 110, x2: 250, y2: 210, c: "#00b89455"},
    {x1: 375, y1: 110, x2: 400, y2: 210, c: "#00b89455"},
    {x1: 375, y1: 110, x2: 550, y2: 210, c: "#00b89455"},
    {x1: 600, y1: 110, x2: 100, y2: 210, c: "#6c5ce755"},
    {x1: 600, y1: 110, x2: 550, y2: 210, c: "#6c5ce755"},
    {x1: 600, y1: 110, x2: 700, y2: 210, c: "#6c5ce755"},
    {x1: 100, y1: 260, x2: 150, y2: 380, c: "#fdcb6e88"},
    {x1: 100, y1: 260, x2: 300, y2: 380, c: "#fdcb6e88"},
    {x1: 100, y1: 260, x2: 450, y2: 380, c: "#fdcb6e88"},
    {x1: 250, y1: 260, x2: 150, y2: 380, c: "#ff767588"},
    {x1: 250, y1: 260, x2: 600, y2: 380, c: "#ff767588"},
    {x1: 400, y1: 260, x2: 600, y2: 380, c: "#55efc488"},
    {x1: 550, y1: 260, x2: 300, y2: 380, c: "#74b9ff88"},
    {x1: 700, y1: 260, x2: 600, y2: 380, c: "#a29bfe88"},
  ];

  connections.forEach(c => {
    svg.append("line").attr("x1", c.x1).attr("y1", c.y1).attr("x2", c.x2).attr("y2", c.y2)
      .attr("stroke", c.c).attr("stroke-width", 2.5);
  });

  activities.forEach(a => {
    svg.append("rect").attr("x", a.x - 55).attr("y", a.y - 25).attr("width", 110).attr("height", 50)
      .attr("fill", a.color).attr("rx", 12).attr("opacity", 0.9);
    const lines = a.label.split("\n");
    lines.forEach((line, i) => {
      svg.append("text").attr("x", a.x).attr("y", a.y - 5 + i * 18).attr("text-anchor", "middle")
        .attr("fill", "white").attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("font-size", 12).text(line);
    });
  });

  envChanges.forEach(e => {
    svg.append("ellipse").attr("cx", e.x).attr("cy", e.y).attr("rx", 55).attr("ry", 28)
      .attr("fill", e.color).attr("opacity", 0.85);
    const lines = e.label.split("\n");
    lines.forEach((line, i) => {
      svg.append("text").attr("x", e.x).attr("y", e.y - 5 + i * 16).attr("text-anchor", "middle")
        .attr("fill", "#2d3436").attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("font-size", 11).text(line);
    });
  });

  health.forEach(h => {
    svg.append("rect").attr("x", h.x - 50).attr("y", h.y - 22).attr("width", 100).attr("height", 44)
      .attr("fill", h.color).attr("rx", 10).attr("opacity", 0.85);
    const lines = h.label.split("\n");
    lines.forEach((line, i) => {
      svg.append("text").attr("x", h.x).attr("y", h.y - 3 + i * 16).attr("text-anchor", "middle")
        .attr("fill", "#2d3436").attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("font-size", 11).text(line);
    });
  });

  svg.append("text").attr("x", 30).attr("y", 85).attr("font-size", 11).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#636e72").text("HUMAN");
  svg.append("text").attr("x", 30).attr("y", 98).attr("font-size", 11).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#636e72").text("ACTIVITIES");
  svg.append("text").attr("x", 15).attr("y", 235).attr("font-size", 11).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#636e72").text("ENV.");
  svg.append("text").attr("x", 15).attr("y", 248).attr("font-size", 11).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#636e72").text("CHANGES");
  svg.append("text").attr("x", 30).attr("y", 405).attr("font-size", 11).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#636e72").text("HEALTH");
  svg.append("text").attr("x", 30).attr("y", 418).attr("font-size", 11).attr("font-weight", "bold").attr("fill", "#636e72").text("IMPACTS");

  return svg.node();
}

39.0.1 💡 Key Insight: Everything Is Connected

The environmental problems you’ll study aren’t separate issues — they’re deeply intertwined. Burning fossil fuels pollutes the air AND changes the climate. Changing land use destroys habitats AND makes cities hotter. Mining contaminates water AND destroys ecosystems.

This means solutions can have ripple effects too. A solution that reduces air pollution might also slow climate change. That’s what makes evaluating solutions so important — and so interesting.

40 Performance Task Preview

40.0.1 🎯 What You’re Building Toward

At the end of this unit, you’ll complete a major performance task:

Use a model to analyze the impacts of every solution you evaluated throughout the unit and argue which solutions should be prioritized to reduce the overall impact of human activities on the environment and human health.

Your task will require:

• ✅ Compiling solutions from all three chapters (Fossil Fuels, Land Use, Mining)
• ✅ Using a model to analyze their combined impacts
• ✅ Evaluating and prioritizing solutions based on effectiveness, cost, feasibility, and equity
• ✅ Writing a conclusion arguing which solutions deserve to be implemented first

💡 Pro tip: Throughout this unit, keep a running list of every solution you evaluate and its estimated impact. You’ll need this for the Performance Task!

41 Your Driving Question Board

41.0.1 📝 What Questions Do You Have?

Based on everything you’ve seen so far, write down questions you want to investigate. Here are some categories to think about:

About the problems:

• Why are some communities affected more than others?
• How are human health and environmental health connected?
• What’s the true scale of the damage?

About solutions:

• What solutions already exist? Why aren’t they being used everywhere?
• How do we decide which solutions are worth the cost?
• Can we solve environmental problems without making economic problems worse?

About your role:

• What can individuals actually do?
• What needs to happen at the community, national, or global level?

Write at least 5 questions. Keep this list — you’ll return to it at the end of the unit to see which ones you’ve answered.

42 Build Your Initial Model

Before diving into the investigations, use the interactive tool below to explore how different levels of human activity connect to environmental and health outcomes.

viewof modelFossil = Inputs.range([0, 100], {label: "🔥 Fossil fuel use (% of energy)", step: 5, value: 80})

viewof modelDeforest = Inputs.range([0, 50], {label: "🌳 Deforestation rate (% of forest lost)", step: 2, value: 20})

viewof modelMining = Inputs.range([0, 100], {label: "⛏️ Mining intensity (% of current levels)", step: 5, value: 100})

{
  const airPollutionDeaths = (modelFossil / 100) * 4.2 + (modelMining / 100) * 0.3;
  const climateDeaths = (modelFossil / 100) * 0.3 + (modelDeforest / 50) * 0.15;
  const waterDeaths = (modelMining / 100) * 0.5 + (modelDeforest / 50) * 0.3;
  const biodiversityLoss = (modelDeforest / 50) * 40 + (modelMining / 100) * 15 + (modelFossil / 100) * 10;
  const totalDeaths = airPollutionDeaths + climateDeaths + waterDeaths;

  const width = 750;
  const height = 350;
  const svg = d3.create("svg").attr("width", width).attr("height", height);

  svg.append("rect").attr("width", width).attr("height", height).attr("fill", "#f8f9fa").attr("rx", 12);
  svg.append("text").attr("x", width/2).attr("y", 28).attr("text-anchor", "middle")
    .attr("font-size", 16).attr("font-weight", "bold").text("Estimated Global Impact of Your Scenario");

  const impacts = [
    {label: "Air Pollution Deaths", value: airPollutionDeaths, max: 5, color: "#e17055", unit: "M/yr"},
    {label: "Climate-Related Deaths", value: climateDeaths, max: 0.5, color: "#d63031", unit: "M/yr"},
    {label: "Water Contamination Deaths", value: waterDeaths, max: 1, color: "#0984e3", unit: "M/yr"},
    {label: "Biodiversity Loss", value: biodiversityLoss, max: 70, color: "#00b894", unit: "% species at risk"}
  ];

  impacts.forEach((imp, i) => {
    const y = 55 + i * 70;
    const barWidth = (imp.value / imp.max) * 450;

    svg.append("text").attr("x", 15).attr("y", y + 5).attr("font-size", 13).attr("font-weight", "bold")
      .attr("fill", "#2d3436").text(imp.label);

    svg.append("rect").attr("x", 15).attr("y", y + 12).attr("width", 450).attr("height", 25)
      .attr("fill", "#dfe6e9").attr("rx", 5);

    svg.append("rect").attr("x", 15).attr("y", y + 12)
      .attr("width", Math.min(barWidth, 450)).attr("height", 25)
      .attr("fill", imp.color).attr("rx", 5).attr("opacity", 0.85);

    svg.append("text").attr("x", 480).attr("y", y + 30).attr("font-size", 14).attr("font-weight", "bold")
      .attr("fill", imp.color).text(`${imp.value.toFixed(2)} ${imp.unit}`);
  });

  svg.append("rect").attr("x", 15).attr("y", 310).attr("width", width - 30).attr("height", 2).attr("fill", "#2d3436");
  svg.append("text").attr("x", 15).attr("y", 340).attr("font-size", 15).attr("font-weight", "bold")
    .text(`Total estimated environmental deaths: ${totalDeaths.toFixed(2)} million per year`);

  return svg.node();
}

42.0.1 📝 Explore Your Model

Use the sliders above to explore different scenarios:

1. Current situation: Leave the sliders at their default values. What does the model estimate?
2. Best case: Move all sliders to their lowest values. How much do deaths and biodiversity loss decrease?
3. Worst case: Move all sliders to their highest values. What happens?
4. Your prediction: Where do you think we’ll be in 20 years if nothing changes? Set the sliders accordingly.
5. Draw your model in your notebook showing how these three human activities connect to environmental changes and health outcomes. Include arrows showing the connections.

42.0.2 🔗 Connecting to What You Already Know

Think back to what you’ve learned in previous units:

• In Unit 4, you learned that burning fossil fuels is increasing CO₂ and warming the planet.
• In Unit 5, you saw how climate change is making storms more intense.

Now consider: Climate change is just one of many ways human activity harms people and the planet. In this unit, you’ll investigate the full picture — and start figuring out what we can do about it.