Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(Supplement):S30

History and Environmental Health: Longterm Consequences of WWI with Special Reference to the Carpathian Basin

Varga C.¹, Ember I.², Kiss I.²

¹ University Pecs, Department of Environmental Health, Hungary

² University Pecs, Institute of Public Health Medicine, Hungary

National minorities are often subjects of environmental injustice. These minorities are primarily products of political and governmental changes in the 20th century, when millions of people suddenly found themselves living in a different country while still in their own homes, depending on the interests of great powers. That is, because the region where they lived was absorbed by another country, the residents frequently became second class citizens of their new state. This has been a common occurrence (both as enclaves and as compact zones along the borders) from the Baltic Sea to the Balkan. The recent problems of Carpathian Basin provide good examples for international (interethnic) environmental injustices of cross-border origin. Who benefits, and who bears the costs? In Central and Eastern Europe, international dimensions are especially complicated by the political history of the region. Scientific research is needed to address the environmental injustice of international ecological catastrophes.

Keywords: environmental health, environmental injustice, crossborder pollution

Published: November 1, 2007  Show citation