1.  Environmental Stressors Mia Waggoner, Danny Kim, Emma Rafkin

2. What are environmental stressors?  Any factor outside of one’s control or in one’s environment that can give that person stress or effect his or hers mood.  Temperature, noise, air pollution and natural disasters are just a few examples of environmental stressors.

3. Temperature  Can cause lack of sleep, which leads to stress.  The worry of staying hydrated and comfortable can be very stressful for people.  Uncomfortably high or low temperatures can cause a lot physical problems for one’s body.  Temperature can effect one’s mood and performance level on things such as tests or homework.

4. Noise  Noise is a very big cause of stress in life.  Unwanted noise can cause distraction. This distraction can eventually lead to unwanted safety risks due to a lack of attention.  Noise itself can be very unnerving and especially for people who are not used to it, can be very stressful.  Noise can also lead to headaches, which can lead to stress.

5. Air Pollution  Over the years, the amount of air pollutants have sky- rocketed. Air pollution is a cause of daily stress in our lives.  People worry about pollution and its impact on the Ozone Layer.  Air pollution can be a cause of asthma, which is the closing of the airways in the lungs, and other respiratory diseases. These respiratory problems can be a very big cause of stress for the people that have them.

6. Natural Disasters  Natural disasters can include earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and much more. They are destructive elements of our environment that can cause a lot of stress for the people in the area of the natural disaster.  People who are experiencing or have survived a natural disaster can feel the many symptoms of disaster-related stress such as loss of sleep, poor work performance, increased use of dangerous substances and much more. This type of stress can be very damaging to daily life.

7. Sources RelayHealth. “Low body Temperature (Hypothermia)” EBSCO Host. June 2012. Web. 2 Oct 2013. Scheers-Masters, Joshua R., Mario Schootman, and Bradley T. Thach. "Heat Stress And Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Incidence: A United States Population Epidemiologic Study." Pediatrics 113.6 (2004): e586-e592. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 2 Oct. 2013 http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/articles/e/n/v/Environmental_stressors.html. Web. 4 Oct 2013 The Center for Hearing and Communication. “Noise in the Workplace.” Web. 4 Oct 2013.. Ready.gov. “Coping With Disaster.” Web. 4 Oct 2013.. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “Respiratory Disease and the Environment.”.