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Historical examples: humans knowingly living with #environmental #risk

Humans have always made #settlement decisions that #balance #risk against benefit. The presence of danger has rarely been enough, on its own, to prevent people from living in hazardous environments.

#Floodplains

Early civilizations developed along major rivers such as the Nile, Tigris–Euphrates, Indus, and Yellow River.

#Seasonal #flooding destroyed homes and crops, but also deposited nutrient-rich sediment.

The #agricultural #productivity of floodplains outweighed periodic losses.

#Communities #rebuilt repeatedly, adapting structures rather than abandoning the land.

Flood risk was understood, expected, and incorporated into life.

We’re the #richest #society in #history because #markets #optimized #speed #scale and #extraction #faster than #accountability could evolve.

#Wealth didn’t #fail to prevent #environmental #collapse it #enabled #harms that are #delayed #invisible #involuntary and #cumulative

which #price #signals cannot #capture in time. #Property #rights and #contracts break down when #damage appears #decades later, after #executives rotate, #firms dissolve, and #exposure is #universal.

That’s not a lack of #freedom or too much #planning

It’s a time-scale mismatch between #markets and #biology . Environmental justice exists because by the time “true market penalties” arrive, the #damage is already #permanent

Environmental justice is the idea that no group of people should bear a #disproportionate share of #environmental #harm , and that everyone deserves #equal #protection and a real say in decisions that affect their #health #land #water and #air

That’s the definition.

Here’s what it actually means in practice. #🧵

#Environmental #justice