The mental and physical health benefits of nature are clear. With increasing urbanization, are there negative consequences to our decreasing experience with the natural environment?
The opportunity to stroll in an airy aspen grove—or any natural environments—is becomingly increasingly rare in our daily, urban lives. Photo: © Nancy Rommes
There is indisputable evidence that being in nature brings us mental and physical health benefits. But, increasingly, Americans are living farther and farther from natural environments.
According to a Pew publication based on US Census data, 86% of people in the United States live in either urban or suburban areas. While the majority of US counties are rural, they are relatively sparsely populated—only 14% of Americans live in rural areas.
As a population, we have less and less access to and experience with natural areas.
The reality of the restorative power of nature may be disappearing from the collective memory of our species.
A large number of studies have shown that exposure to nature—especially forests and bodies of water—lowers blood pressure and heart rate in study participants. Being in those environments also decreases stress (as measured by cortisol levels) and has positive and enduring effects on the immune system.
The "soft fascination" of moving water has a demonstrable impact on cardiovascular parameters. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
A proposed underlying mechanism for this has to do with the concept of biophilia. Popularized by the Harvard biologist, E.O. Wilson, biophilia can be defined as an “innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms”—an evolutional adaptation that improved survival and brought broader human fulfillment.
But with the increasing urbanization of the planet, with the great loss of the natural environment making it harder than ever to experience, will there be enduring negative physical and mental health consequences as we lose contact with nature?
Many people think so—especially for those who, through poverty, difficult social circumstances, or illness, have little opportunity to experience the natural environment. These negative consequences may be especially acute and long-lasting in children for whom the term Nature Deficit Disorder has been proposed.
The experience of being in nature brings health benefits—but only for those who can get to natural areas. For those who are unable reach those areas, how can they realize the potential benefits of biophilia? Just as importantly, how can we as a society or as caregivers bring the benefits of nature to the disadvantaged or ill?
That's where the concepts of green spaces, blue spaces, and images of nature come in. We will introduce those concepts in subsequent posts.
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