Environmental Issues Of Asia

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Click this link to see an Environmental Issues map of Asia.

In China, one of the largest Asian countries, pollution has taken a toll on their society. China's huge industrial power
has scarred it's environment. Currently pollution that causes cancer is the leading cause of death in China. Air
pollution alone is also a cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths, and nearly 500 million people lack clean drinking
water.
According to the European Union only 1 percent in 560 million city dwellers actually breathe air considered safe.
It is a very awkward situation for the country because our greatest achievement is also our biggest burden, says
Wang Jinnan, one of Chinas leading environmental researchers. There is pressure for change, but many people
refuse to accept that we need a new approach so soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html
In Russia much harmful pollution has also occurred. According to an estimate only 15% of the urban population
breathes air that's not harmful. As stated on http://countrystudies.us/russia/25.htm
"Of the 43.8 million tons of pollutants discharged into the open air in 1993, about 18,000 industrial enterprises
generated an estimated 24.8 million tons, while vehicle emissions added 19 million tons."
Also in Asian Russia, the heaviest air pollution is in Omsk and Novokuznetsk in southwestern Siberia, Irkutsk on Lake
Baikal, the Noril'sk industrial center in northwestern Siberia, and Khabarovsk in the Far East. Levels of airborne
sulfur, nitrogen, and lead remain high.
Officials have identified many of Russia's rivers as carriers of waterborne diseases, epidemics of which were
especially frequent in 1995. In July 1995, Moscow city health officials reported an outbreak of cholera-causing
bacteria in the Moscow River. Officials have warned of increasing outbreaks of sewage-related diseases,including
cholera, salmonella, typhoid fever, dysentery, and viral hepatitis.
http://countrystudies.us/russia/25.htm
India's main environmental issues include water pollution and sanitation and air pollution. 209 towns in India have
partial sanitation plants, while there are only 8 towns with full sanitation plants out of India's 3,119 towns and cities.
Russell Hopfenberg and David Pimentel HUMAN POPULATION NUMBERS AS A FUNCTION OF FOOD
SUPPLYoilcrash.com
Also, 114 cities dump sewage and partially cremated bodies into the Ganges River, while millions depend on this
river for washing, bathing, and source for drinking water.
National Geographic Society. 1995. Water: A Story of Hope. Washington (DC): National Geographic Society

The Ganges River in India. Click on the picture for a link to the website we found it on.

In Indonesia the main environmental issues are deforestation and pollution. The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization estimates that Indonesia is losing 1.87 million hectoacre of forest every year. The reason for the main
part of the deforestation is clearing forests for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is now considered as a major source of
income for Indonesia and more than 3.5 million people are working in this area.
Also the rapid economic development has caused large amounts of sewage and industrial pollution. There is also
more air pollution, traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and waste water services that come
along with the rapid urbanization.
http://www.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/indonesia/environmental_problems_indonesia/


6 Major Environmental Problems of Asia
Throughout the Asia-Pacific region, rapid economic and population growth creates serious social consequences from environmental
problems of urban excess, deforestation, overfishing, global warming, air pollution, and limited safe water supplies. The
Asian economic crisis has aggravated this trend. Economic policies have encouraged growth in some sectors while ignoring
damage to others. Further, little regard is given to sustainability of the exploited resources. The social costs in terms of health,
economic efficiency, and cultural dislocation are immediate, while the long-term costs of environmental rehabilitation are humbling.
Left unbridled, environmental damage can lead to economic decline.

Urban Excess
Environmental problems arise from the urban by-products of transport, industrial activities, and the overcrowding of human
habitation. Economic policies have encouraged mass migration of labor to urban industries. The shift from rural to urban Asia will
accelerate in the coming century, aggravating urban crowding and increasing the risk of social and political conflict. Asias urban
profile increased from 27% (0.7B people) in 1980 to 38% (1.4B) in 2000 and will rise to 50% (2.3B) in 2020.


To date, governments have stimulated urban migration by maintaining low food costs, which reduce rural incomes and increase the
flight to the cities. About a third of the people in the Third Worlds cities live in desperately overcrowded slums and squatter
settlements, with many people unemployed, uneducated, undernourished and chronically ill. Conditions will worsen as their
numbers swell and transport, communication, health and sanitation systems break down. One solution to urban excesses is to divert
industry and its induced labor migration away from the mega cities towards surrounding areas. This requires significant
infrastructure investment, however, and establishes competing centers of political power.

Deforestation/Desertification
Asian food security is threatened by deforestation and desertification. More than a third of the arable land in Asia is at risk. Nearly
75% of Southeast Asias original forest cover has been destroyed at an annual loss rate that is the size of Switzerland.

The loss of forests and agricultural land is due to both the exploitation for profit and the ignorance of good practices. Isolated, rogue
regimes such as Burma exploit timber, oil, and mineral resources to support their governments. Poor farmers across Asia use
improper irrigation and fertilization practices, resulting in increased salinity and toxic soils.


Regardless of motive and method, the loss of workable land hurts not only the harvester, but also has broad consequences for his
neighbors in terms of erosion, downstream flooding, and pollution.


Indonesias provinces refuse to properly manage the annual smog threatening the health and productivity of its own people as well
as in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia. These failings point to an obvious need to invest in improved oversight, management,
monitoring, methods, and conservation.


Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance After years of conflict, large quantities of mines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) litter
the landscape, killing and maiming thousands of innocent victims annually. The problem is most acute in Cambodia, Vietnam, and
Laos.


In Cambodia, one out of every 245 individuals is an amputee. Landmines and/or UXO maim or kill 100 people per month in
Cambodia. Death or injury remove many victims from the work force during their productive years, further debilitating economically
disadvantaged families.


Landmines and UXO create vast numbers of internally displaced people, remove valuable real estate from productive use, serve as
physical barriers to the movement of people, goods and services, and dramatically increase the mortality rate of both people and
livestock.


Cambodias 4 to 6 million landmines are scatter over 1,800 square kilometers, or roughly 1% of the country. Estimates are that
200,000 tons of UXO affect up to 50% of the Laotian landmass.


Major projects have been delayed, and, before activities proceed, accountants must set aside up to 10% of project costs for mine
clearance. Large-scale development is difficult or impossible because of landmines.


Agricultural production could increase by 135% in Cambodia without the impediments of mines and UXO. The United States has
provided millions of dollars in monetary aid and has carried out or proposed a number of projects to help these countries deal with
this problem. Progress toward removing all mines and UXO is slow, and may be impossible due to technical difficulties in identifying
mines and UXO in the field.


Areas of greatest economic value should receive highest priority for clearance, barriers need to be constructed for those areas that
cannot be cleared at this time, and educational programs should be initiated. The U.S. militarys unique technical knowledge helps
these clearing efforts, but domestic programs need sound funding and implementation.


Water
As the demand for water grows with population and the economy, water supplies will be increasingly polluted from untreated
sewage, from industrial discharges, and from salt-water intrusion of overexploited water tables.


In Jakarta, it costs $20M to $30M annually to boil water for home use. In Manila Bay, heavily polluted by sewage, fish catches have
dropped 40% in the last decade. Fish catches near cities in India and China also have experienced major declines. Of Taiwan's 20
million people, less than 1 million are served by sewers. Each day in Hong Kong, about 1 million tons of sewage and industrial
effluent pour untreated into the sea - a volume to fill 500 Olympic swimming pools, according to Hong Kong officials. Projecting to
2025, water shortages will affect India, China, North and South Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.


Water disputes have affected international relations for years. Although an agreement was reached in 1996, India and Bangladesh
have disagreed on the sharing of the waters of the Ganges for more than 20 years. Greater numbers of international disputes will
arise and be more difficult to resolve as populations increase and economies grow, thereby placing a greater demand on scarce
resources.


A domestic resource allocation problem that is common to the Pacific Islands soon will prevail over Asia: high-use agriculture will
compete with populations for scarce water supplies. While more than 80% of the water consumed in Asia is used for agricultural
purposes, 60 to 75% is lost to evaporation before reaching the crops. A technological solution may be to encourage the use of
water-efficient drip irrigation techniques, which are employed in less than 1% of all irrigated areas.


Overfishing
Fish are a key source of food for virtually all Asian states, providing one of the largest sources of animal protein to the world's fastest
growing commodity market. The worlds largest tuna fishery crosses the jurisdiction of at least 21 countriesas well as extensive
high-seas areas of the Pacific Oceanand involves harvesting by fishing vessels from 26 different nations.


Across the Pacific and in many coastal and riparian parts of Asia, fishing is a significant part of the economic base, providing food,
employment, revenue, and foreign exchange earnings. World fisheries are being overfished as marine catches increased from 17
million metric tons (MMT) in 1950 to a peak of 87.1 MMT in 1996. As a result, there has been a steady increase in the frequency of
clashes and incidents at sea caused by foreign fishing trawlers illegally encroaching into Exclusive Economic Zones and terri torial
seas.


Aquaculture production is a growing part of the fisheries sector. In 1996, 20% of all global fisheries production was from
aquaculture. Asia dominates world aquaculture for fish, shrimp and shellfish, with China producing 68% of the global total. If done in
an environmentally friendly manner, aquaculture can be a positive contributor to the world food supply.


For example, giant tiger prawn production in Thailand has exploded from 900 to 277,000 tons in the last decade. However, reckless
pumping of seawater into shrimp ponds can damage neighboring fields and hurt coastal marine life.


To protect fisheries and insure sustainability, cooperative resource management schemes such as fishing quotas need to be
established and enforced. Militaries, coast guards, law enforcement, and courts should cooperate to reduce the possibility of
disputes, collisions, and pollution, such as negligent oil spills.


Global Warming
Carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane, and nitrous oxide act like a glass in a greenhouse, letting the suns rays in
but trapping heat that would otherwise be released back into space. Carbon dioxide accounts for more than half of the warming
affect, while CFCs contribute about a quarter and methane and nitrous oxide cause the remainder. Temperatures have increased .3
to .6 degrees C over the last century, consistent with the rise in greenhouse gases as predicted in recently developed computer
models. Climate models predict that temperatures will be 1 to 3 degrees C higher in 2100.


Rising ocean temperatures and melting polar caps will elevate sea levels by 15 to 95 cm in the next century. Bangladesh could lose
17% of its land area to rising seas, while several island nations, such as the Maldives and Tuvalu will become uninhabitable or
disappear. Parts of Northern Europe and Canada will benefit from better harvests, but crop yields in India could decline by 30% by
2050.


The controversial solution of the Kyoto Protocol of December 1997 places legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
The protocol aims to reduce emissions from developing countries to approximately 95% of their 1990 levels by the 2008 to 2012
timeframe.


Air Pollution
ir pollution from vehicles, power plants, incinerators and industry is a major problem in Asia. Outdated pollution control technology
and the use of high polluting fuels compound this problem.


Health. Nine of the fifteen cities with the highest particulate levels in the world and six out of the fifteen cities worst affected by sulfur
dioxide are in East Asia. Air pollution in China caused more that 175,000 premature deaths in 1995 and nearly 2 million cases of
chronic bronchitis. Damage to health and buildings cost Bangkok $1B annually, while air pollution in Delhi decreased crop yields by
30%.


Cross-impacts. Air pollution, in the form of acid rain, can be transported hundreds of miles by wind before being deposited through
fog, rain or snow. The acidic deposition damages buildings, degrades the environment and reduces crop yields. In India, wheat
growing near a power plant suffered a 49% reduction in yield compared with that grown 22 kilometers away.


Transnational interest. South Korea and Japan are concerned about economic and health effects of airborne pollutants and acid
rain from coal burning power plants in nearby China.China's heavy use of air-polluting coal blurs the distinction between domestic
economics and transnational threats.


Technology. The developed countries have dramatically reduced the amount of pollutant emissions in the last 20 years through the
implementation of new technologies. Widespread use of these proven technologies in developing and advanced Asian economies,
coupled with cleaner burning fuels such as unleaded gasoline, natural gas and low sulfur coal can reduce total emissions regardless
of rising energy consumption. Implications for Cooperation Since trade has a significant effect on environmental conditions, the
World Trade Organization (WTO) is making efforts to address these problems in a multilateral forum. Also, the APEC forum is
discussing environmental policy, technologies, sustainability, and education and information.


Countries are increasingly participating in global and regional conventions on atmosphere and oceans, protection of wildlife and
habitat, and the handling of hazardous substances. The United Nations and the World Bank are providing aid through the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) for countries suffering from spillover pollution of neighboring countries.
Fledgling regional organizations are develop a dialog for resolving contentious issues by discussing environmental
management; nature conservation; industrial, marine, and urban settings; and education, training, and information.
Among these organizations are ASEAN, the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), the South Pacific
Regional Environment Program (SPREP), and the Lower Mekong Basin Development Environment Program (LMBDEP).
The latter organization links economic cooperation and development in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, addresses food and
power production, flood control, and navigation in the lower Mekong River basin.
Conclusions
Environmental issues are an underlyingand often neglectedcause for conflicts, disasters, or dislocations. Militaries in the region
may be called upon not only to resolve conflicts, butlike the U.S. Army Corps of Engineersto use their organizational skills and
resources to address both crisis relief and long-term issues of security and infrastructure. Furtherat the micro-economic level
each country's military faces a broad array of environmental challenges from the impact of their infrastructure and operations. The
U.S. military is highly skilled in confronting these challenges. By sharing these environmental security practices with other countries,
the U.S. military promotes good governance and sets an example for reducing environmental threats.







Sunday Feb 10, 2013



The Environmental Challenges Facing the Middle East
It is well known that the Middle East is a water scarce region. Water however is not the only element determining the survival of
Middle Eastern regimes. Environmental discourse and policy are fairly new in the Middle East. The environment itself is very
closely related to politics; it challenges the decision makers, but even more, it challenges the everyday life of people in these
countries.


Creating renewable energy in the Golan. Photo: Shmuel Willner

Dr. Moshe Terdiman is a Middle Eastern Studies scholar, who is an expert on Islam in Africa, Islamic social issues, environmental
issues in the Arab and Muslim world, Islam and the environment, and interfaith environmental cooperation. Dr. Terdiman has
contributed great deal in studies understanding the environmental discourse in the Middle East. He has been working for several
Israeli Ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, and has been a consultant for the Ministry of
Environmental Protection. Dr. Terdiman lectured on Environmental Policy in the Middle East at the Arava Institute, where I had an
opportunity to interview him and learn from his vast experience and knowledge.

Dr. Terdiman describes and explains the connection between environmental discourse and regional political challenges, and how
they are all intertwined with each other. According to him there are five main environmental challenges facing the Middle East:
water security, energy security, food security, land degradation, and desertification; all are closely related to both regional stability
and security.

The future of Middle East water management lies on desalination of seawater; there is no doubt about this. Israels strategy of
ensuring water security for its population in 2020 is dependent on efficient demand management and the creation of recycled
wastewater and desalinated water on a large scale. However, there are many nations in the Middle East where the situation only
deteriorates.

According to Dr. Terdiman, Yemen is a state on the verge of catastrophe, as its capital Sana faces very serious water shortage by
2026. So what will people do, is a big question. Desalination could be an answer, but Yemen is a very poor country and the
problem is that people dont have money for desalination technology, and further, they dont have energy to create potable water.

Israel has very developed water management. Why couldnt Israels accomplishments in the field of water be used in the rest of the
water scarce Middle East? The challenge is to rethink water in the Middle East, and to treat it as an opportunity for peace and
development.

Many wars have been fought over energy. Energy security is a universal challenge, and concerns each and every government in
the world. In the Middle East, this is equally important since there are both nations which are abundant in oil and gas, and nations
which struggle to produce enough to supply their needs. Israel, on the contrary, has been blessed with major offshore gas
discoveries, which secure its energy production for long time. Energy independence is the big thing, Dr. Terdiman adds.

What happens to the states that dont have oil, like Jordan, Lebanon and Syria? asks Dr. Terdiman. Jordan and Syria dont have
the money to import all the energy they need, yet they still have to supply their energy needs. This is why electricity prices are very
high in Jordan, especially after the explosion of the Sinai gas pipeline, which supplied Jordanian gas. As they dont have enough
energy supply in Jordan, there have been many protests. This is a vicious cycle.

However, the oil-rich Gulf States are already developing renewable energy sources, such as solar and bio-gas. They need to get
ready for the time when there is no oil available. They understand that their survival depend on this. People cannot live in these
places without energy, Moshe Terdiman points out.

In order to live, people need to eat. The price of food has been a big issue in the Middle East. The events of the Arab Spring were
created partly because of rising food prices in the Arab world. As a result of the water scarcity and the change in the climate, Middle
Eastern countries forced to import food, as they havent been able to sustain their own needs.

Years of drought can cause a major increase in land degradation and desertification. Israel on the hand has been the only country
in the Middle East that has more forests and green areas than before a hundred years ago, thanks to the pioneering work and
contribution of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Jewish National Fund over the period ofmore than 110 years.

As a result of global warming, deserts spread over fertile land, and over time, conquer it. For instance, the desert in Darfur of Africa
spread over one hundred kilometers in just forty years, and as a result, the herders didnt have enough water for their flocks. When
the herders moved from one area to another, conflicts erupted between the various tribes. This was part of the genocide in the
region, Dr. Terdiman explains.

Environmental challenges continue to plague Middle East, and if they are not dealt with properly, there will be more land
degradation, and more conflicts. Dr. Terdiman sums up the interview and concludes: Nothing is 'just' environmental in the Middle
East. Everything is connected to politics, especially when the issues are connected to Israel and its neighboring countries. In Israel,
it is important to understand the environmental discourse within the Arab world.

You need to think their way in order to accomplish something, and this is the challenging part in this region. Environmental policy is
very much related to politics.