Category: ASIA

Hi everyone! Today’s second post of the week will complement the previous post I made earlier in the week. Apart from air and water pollution, Afghanistan has to deal with nitrate pollution as well.

In Mahaqi et al.’s (2021) paper, I have learnt that nitrate is a common pollutant in many underdeveloped countries in Asia, including Afghanistan. Afghanistan experiences nitrate pollution mainly from domestic sewage, including latrines and cesspits. Latrines are toilets found in camps and cesspits are pits meant for the disposal of liquid waste. Kabul is Afghanistan’s capital, and the most polluted city in the country. The city lacks an effective sewage network, hence, allowing nitrate pollutants to seep into the city’s groundwater system. As seen in the image below, nitrates can enter groundwater sources through various ways, even when an proper sewage network is in place. Nevertheless, Mahaqi et al. suggest that a reactive barrier technique could potentially reduce the extent of nitrate pollution, by removing it from groundwater sources. According to them, this barrier is also relatively cheap and easy to install.

How Nitrate Enters Contaminates Water Sources (DVGW, n. d.)

I mentioned in my previous post that women and children are more affected by pollution than men. This claim is supported by the findings made by Rana et al. (2019). Many Afghan people depend on wood, animal dung, or coal for fuel to cook. This source of fuels are a primary source of indoor air pollutants. Their study found that children who were exposed to indoor air pollution were more likely to suffer from acute respiratory infections. Children have narrower airways and larger lung surfaces because of their underdeveloped epithelial linings of their lungs. As such, they are 50% more likely to inhale polluted air as compared to other older children.

A final paper that I found focuses on the links between terrorism and environmental pollution. This paper by Bildirici & Gokmenoglu (2020) researches on countries affected by terrorism – Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria, Somalia, Thailand, and Yemen. I plan to research on environmental pollution in Pakistan a few weeks from now, since it is considered the 2^nd most polluted country in the world. If any of you are interested in learning about the other countries listed above, do update me, so that I can research and share my findings with you. Otherwise, it would be nice to know what you found when researching on these countries! Unsurprisingly, Bildirici & Gokmenoglu found that terrorism does exacerbate environmental pollution, not only because terrorism causes socio-economic and political problems (that inhibit the ability of societies to manage pollution), but also because high-tech equipment used in terrorist acts release a lot of pollutants into the atmosphere.

I look forward to researching more about the relationship between terrorism and pollution. If I do come across other interesting articles, I will be adding them into the comments section below, or make a separate post!

Up next, Bangladesh. See you in the next one! ✿

References

Bildirici, M. & Gokmenoglu, S. M. (2020) The Impact of Terrorism and FDI on Environmental Pollution: Evidence from Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria, Somalia, Thailand and Yemen. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 81, 1-12. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S019592551930277X?via%3Dihub [Accessed: 20 January 2022].

DVGW (n. d.) Too Many Animals – too Little Land. Available from: https://www.dvgw.de/english-pages/topics/water/nitrates-and-drinking-water [Accessed: 20 January 2022].

IQAir (n. d.) World’s Most Polluted Countries 2020 (PM2.5). Available from: https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-countries [Accessed: 20 January 2022].

Mahaqi, A., Mehiqi, M., Moheghy, M. A., Moheghi, M. M. & Hussainzadeh, J. (2021) Nitrate Pollution in Kabul Water Supplies, Afghanistan; Sources and Chemical Reactions: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Sciences and Technology. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03551-4 [Accessed: 20 January 2022].

Rana, J., Uddin, J., Peltier, R. & Oulhote, Y. Associations between Indoor Air Pollution and Acute Respiratory Infections among Under-Five Children in Afghanistan: Do SES and Sex Matter? (2019) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16(16), 1-13. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6720819/?tool=pmcentrez&report=abstract [Accessed: 20 January 2022].

Hi everyone! To start off the week, let me share with you what I have gathered from various news websites. According to IQAir, Afghanistan is the 5th most polluted country in the world, as seen in the screenshot below. This platform will be a dominant site that I will refer to, to set the context of future discussions.

As of today, Afghanistan’s PM2.5 concentration (an indicator to measure air pollution) is 9.3 times above the World Health Organization’s air quality guideline value. You might be disillusioned at first, since the green colour shadowing Afghanistan might indicate a good value, as shown on the label at the bottom of the screenshot. This was a mistake I made earlier as well. What you should be focusing on is the number in the circles around the region. As seen in the circle hovering around Kabul, the air quality index right now is 173. This is unhealthy, since the satisfactory AQI value should be a value below 100.

Some news headlines tend to suggest that air pollution in Afghanistan is more deadlier than the war. Kabul is home to around 6 million people. Many children and elderly fall victim to the smog and smoke that lie over the city. As of 2017, more than 26000 people have died from polluted-related illnesses, whereas only less than 3500 civilians died as a result of the Afghan War. Some Afghan officials have pointed out that fighting pollution is as important as fighting terrorism. But how can these people afford to fight two wars at once? Approximately 20 patients would visit the hospital for respiratory diseases caused by air pollution on a daily basis.

Apart from air pollution, Kabul’s refugee camps are home to many families, who have no proper sanitation or water systems. They are surrounded by garbage, and they utilize any cloth, plastics, paper, or sticks to use as fuel to keep them warm. In case you did not know, Kabul experiences a semiarid climate, where temperatures can reach below zero degrees during the winter months. Water pollution is also another major area of concern for the region that experiences low rainfall. Coupled with irregular use of groundwater and insufficient water management infrastructures, many fall victim to illnesses caused by contaminated water.

Unfortunately, many women and children are more vulnerable to pollution than men, because they stay longer at home. It seems ironic that staying at home can expose you to danger, but as explained by the EMRO, being at home exposes people to Household Air Pollution, which can contribute to pre-term birth, stunting, and low birth rate. In the next post for the week, I will be summarizing 3 research papers conducted by environmentalists to learn about the sufferings of these Afghan people.

See you in the next one! ✿

References

AQI (2022) Air Quality in Afghanistan. 18 January. Available from: https://www.iqair.com/us/afghanistan [Accessed: 18 January 2022].

EMRO (n. d.) Afghanistan. World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. Available from: http://www.emro.who.int/afg/programmes/eh.html#:~:text=In%20Afghanistan%2C%20it%20is%20estimated,over%2011%20000%20deaths%20annually.&text=Women%20and%20children%20are%20at,at%20home%20more%20than%20men. [Accessed: 18 January 2022].

Faiez, R. (2019) In Afghanistan’s Capital, Air Pollution May Be Even Deadlier Than War. 14 November. Available from: https://thediplomat.com/2019/11/in-afghanistans-capital-air-pollution-may-be-even-deadlier-than-war/ [Accessed: 18 January 2022].

German Press Agency (2021) Air Pollution Killed Almost 5,000 People in Afghanistan in 2020, Health Ministry Says. 13 January. Daily Sabah. Available from: https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/air-pollution-killed-almost-5000-people-in-afghanistan-in-2020-health-ministry-says [Accessed: 18 January 2022].

Petrov, V. P., Ali, M., Weinbaum, M.G., Allchin, F. R., Dupree, N. H.& Dupree, L. (2021) Afghanistan. 2 November. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/place/Afghanistan [Accessed: 18 January 2022].

Sadat, S. K. (2020) Afghanistan: Air Pollution More Dangerous than Civil War. 2 January. Available from: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/afghanistanair-pollution-more-dangerous-than-civil-war/1690496 [Accessed: 18 January 2022].