Page 2 – Sullied South

✿ An Interesting Way Out

Hi everyone! This is an entirely unplanned post (again) because I stumbled across a super interesting video on Youtube! It’s not relevant to countries in the Global South, but I find the need to comment on it.

As you can see, the video does not emphasize how this could be a way for the Global South to manage pollution. The video is focused on encouraging people worldwide to donate their hair, so that hair mats can be made, to clear oil spills, which are sources of water pollution.

It is heartening to know that the patent was not renewed, so that more people around the world who feel inspired can imitate the project, and tackle water pollution in their own ways. As students of GE4237, we know that water pollution is not limited to the pollution we visibly see on the water surface, but also the invisible contaminants hidden within the water body. As such, this may not an effective pollution management strategy.

However, I believe that if oil spills are managed in this way, rather than through the use of chemicals or other environmentally harmful methods that we have learnt in the seminar in week 5, we can protect more ocean life.

It may not help countries in the Global South that much, but it would be interesting to see how such a venture can be played out in such countries. Have you heard of these hair mats before reading this post? I certainly didn’t!

Thanks for reading! See you in the next one! ✿

✿ Mongolia (II)

Hi everyone! In today’s second post of the week, I will be going through the health effects faced by the people in Mongolia. Even though air pollution does not discriminately choose which people to cause harm to, children suffer the most from it in Mongolia.

Coal is essential if Mongols wish to survive the winter months. The air in Mongolia is so bad, that this image below is what a good day in Mongolia looks like:

Many have argued that informal settlers are not entirely to blame for air pollution because a lot of coal is also used in the mining industries in Mongolia. As such, corrupt politicians are ignoring or shifting the blame to innocent citizens who wish to survive. They only serve the agencies and corporations that finance them, rather than the people they are meant to serve.

As a result, children and young women of child bearing ages experience shorter lifespans, as brief in the article by Warburton et al. (2013). The study by Enkhmaa et al. (2014) also shows the correlation between winter air pollution and spontaneous abortion. Many women face pregnancy losses due to the air pollutants that they breathe in. Cousins (2019) wrote in her article that the government is aware on these side-effects, and have implemented a scheme to move locals living in informal settlements into formal apartments, or communal spaces that are connected to the communal living grid. There was also a prohibition of the waste burning in 2016. But are these really effective? Many of those who live in informal settlements are poor, and they cannot afford to move out and sustain a livelihood in the centre of the city. She also adds that coal has to be used during the winter months because other fuels such as wood and dung are not effective in keeping locals warm in a season where temperatures can reach to -40 degrees Celsius. There is no affordable alternative fuel that is clean in Mongolia. The current reality is very bleak.

A paper by Lv et al. (2020) uses an interesting pollution damage method, and establishes a useful index system to measure the external costs caused by pollution in the country. It is slightly complicated, but they generally conclude that air pollution can induce water and solid waste pollution, through the destruction of forest and aquatic ecosystems, as well as farmland. It sounds strange, but to better understand this, you can refer to pages 1136 to 1139.

Finally, the paper I found done by Luvsan et al. (2012) studies the role of SO2 in air pollution in Mongolia. They basically concluded that because of industrialization and urbanization, more of the poor are forced to move out to informal settlements, hence, contributing to indoor air pollution caused by indoor coal heating. The SO2 emitted from a range of sources also worsens air quality due to the unique meteorological parameters of the region, such as wind direction and speed, relative humidity and especially temperature.

To sum up all that I have covered in this post and the one before this, you can look into these infographics below:

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

References

Cousins, S. (2019). Air Pollution in Mongolia. Bulletin World Health Organization. 97(2), 79-80. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6357570/?tool=pmcentrez&report=abstract [Accessed: 11 March 2022].

Enkhmaa, D., Warburton, N., Javzandulam, B., Uyanga, J., Khishigsuren, Y., Lodoysamba, S., Enkhtur, S. & Warburton, D. (2014) Seasonal Ambient Air Pollution Correlates Strongly With Spontaneous Abortion in Mongolia. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 14(146), 1-7. Available from: https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2393-14-146 [Accessed: 11 March 2022].

Gardiner, B. (2019) Kids Suffer Most in One of Earth’s Most Polluted Cities. 27 March. National Geographic. Available from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/mongolia-air-pollution [Accessed: 7 March 2022].

Luvsan, M. E., Shie, R. H., Purevdorj, T., Badarch, L., Baldorj, B. & Chan, C. C. (2012) The Influence of Emission Sources and Meteorological Conditions on SO2 Pollution in Mongolia. Atmospheric Environment. 61, 542-549. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S1352231012007169?via%3Dihub [Accessed: 11 March 2022].

Lv, H. D., Zhou, J. S., Yang, L., Li, Y. M. & Liu, L. (2018) An Accounting of the External Environmental Costs of Coal in Inner Mongolia using the Pollution Damage Method. Environment, Development, and Sustainability. 22, 1299-1321. Available from: https://link-springer-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/content/pdf/10.1007/s10668-018-0249-1.pdf [Accessed: 11 March 2022].

Warbuton, D., Gilliland, F. & Dashdendev, B. (2013) Environmental Pollution in Mongolia: Effects Across the Lifespan. Environmental Research. 124, 65-66. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0013935113000716?via%3Dihub [Accessed: 11 March 2022].

✿ Mongolia (I)

Hi everyone! To start off the week, let’s take a look at the air quality in Mongolia. I was shocked to see the screenshot below

I have never been to Mongolia, and I have never searched the country up before. Based on my own geographical imagination of the country, I would think that it is a largely underdeveloped country filled with lots of desert spaces and agricultural land. But as you see in the screenshot, the AQI index is as high as 213! According to IQAir, Mongolia is the 4^th most air polluted country in 2020! Why is this so?

The country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world. According to UNICEF, the daily average PM2.5 pollution levels in the capital can reach 27 times higher than the safe level assigned by the World Health Organization. Other sources claim that PM2.5 concentration levels are almost 40 times higher than the safe level. Most of the air pollution is caused by the coal-burning stoves operated in informal settlements during the cold season. In these settlements, basic social infrastructures such as heating and water are not provided. In 2019, a ban was set against the use of raw coal, which is mainly used by these informal settlers in their homes. Settlers were interviewed and some even stated that even though they struggled during the winter months, they hoped that the sacrifice they had to go through would improve the overall air quality in the city. As mentioned by Jun, if Mongolia wishes to sustainably reduce air pollution, it has to provide other socio-economic policies to life people out of poverty. If not, there will be more preventable deaths. You can look at the article posted by her using the hyperlink. It provides a comprehensive summary of the situation in Mongolia.

To sum up, Mongolia’s pollution is worrying because of the consequences it brings to the marginalized. This video on TIME explains the current lives of Mongols

As you can see, Mongolia is heavily reliant on coal. During the winter months, temperatures can fall down to almost -24 degrees celsius. Pollution is an inevitable part of life for Mongols. Unlike the other countries in the Global South studied covered on this blog, the climate plays a crucial role in pollution. It gets too cold. So Mongols have to use coal to keep warm. Coal pollutes the air. The air makes children fall ill. It is a never ending cycle because these people cannot influence the climate. They also cannot change their coal use because they are the most affected by climate, and the most poor. This image below emphasizes how Mongols face the highest pollution levels during the winter months.

In the next post this week, I will summarize what scholars have studied about the effects of air pollution.

See you in the next one! ✿

References

Hincks, J. (2018) Life in the Most Polluted Capital in the World. 23 March. TIME. Available from: https://time.com/longform/ulan-bator-mongolia-most-polluted-capital/ [Accessed: 7 March 2022].

IQAir (2022) Air Quality in Mongolia. 7 March. Available from: https://www.iqair.com/mongolia [Accessed: 7 March 2022].

Jun, S. (n. d.) Is the Raw Coal Ban a Silver Bullet to Solving Air Pollution in Mongolia?: A Study of the Mongolian Government’s Air Pollution Reduction Policies and Recommendations in the Context of COVID-19. Journal of Public & International Affairs. Available from: https://jpia.princeton.edu/news/raw-coal-ban-silver-bullet-solving-air-pollution-mongolia-study-mongolian-governments-air [Accessed: 7 March 2022].

Kwong, E. (2019) Mongolia’s Capital Banned Coal to Fix its Pollution Problem. Will it Work? 30 July. NPR. Available from: https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/727688757/mongolias-capital-banned-coal-to-fix-its-pollution-problem-will-it-work [Accessed: 7 March 2022].

UNICEF (n. d.) Environment & Air Pollution Climate Change and Environmental Degradation Undermine the Rights of Every Child. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/mongolia/environment-air-pollution#:~:text=The%20challenges,level%20WHO%20recommends%20as%20safe. [Accessed: 7 March 2022].

✿ Madagascar (II)

Hi everyone! Before I begin this second post of the week, I’d like to mention that out of all the countries I have searched on, Madagascar seems to be the least studied country. There are not many scholarly articles on pollution in Madagascar. It took me relatively much longer to find relevant papers to review. Nonetheless, these papers caught my interest.

In my previous post, I specifically mentioned how water-borne diseases can cause children to be malnourished. I found a paper that examined levels of nutrition in children in a unique way. Zielinska-Dawidziak et al. (2021) studied the nutritional status of Madagascar girls, by studying the concentration of various elements in their hair. I did not know you could do that! They compared hair samples from girls who lived in both rural and urban areas, and found these following elements: Al, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sn and Sb (refer to your periodic table for better visualization!). Below is their study design. Doesn’t it look fascinating?

They concluded many different things, but to generalize, they argued that the place of residence (rural vs urban area) influenced the level of pollutants in the girls’ hair. This was also mainly because of where their food came from. Nevertheless, they summed up that there were high contents of Al, followed by Cd and Cr in all the hair of these girls. They also found that younger girls were more exposed to Al, Cr, and Ni.

Meanwhile, Dasgupta et al.’s (2015) paper examined indoor air pollution, and ways to better improve current conditions. Unfortunately, they argued that current measures in Madagascar to improve air quality indoors are ineffective – “Ethanol is significantly cleaner than biomass fuels, and a larger kitchen significantly improves the quality of household air. Although improved wood stoves with a chimney were effective in reducing concentrations of carbon monoxide in the kitchen, improved charcoal stoves were found to have no significant impact on air quality compared with traditional charcoal stoves” (p. 345). If you read the paper, you will also wonder why these measures were even suggested in the first place. Were the consultants who implemented this solution aware of its inadequacies? Is this the reason why many of the initiatives that aim to manage pollution fail? Why are professionals not involved in the decision-making process?

Finally, Qin et al.’s (2021) paper discusses whether waste to biomass energy conversion is possible in Madagascar. Currently, biomass energy accounts for 80% of Madagascar’s energy source. Most of the biomass is sourced from wood and solid charcoal. Hence, Qin et al. tried to find out if advanced technologies could be developed, so that there could be a better utilization of other forms of waste, such as farming residuals, animal wastes, and forest waste. These technologies include fermentation, gasification, and torrefaction – “Gasification converted biomass wastes to combustible gas; torrefaction can increase the energy density in solid biomass energy and be used to produce biocoal briquette; fermentation can transfer these biomass wastes to biogas or ethanol fuel. Advanced conversion technologies can not only improve the efficiency of energy utilization but also reduce the cost of power generation” (p. 8). All of these are promising avenues for the government to look into.

But can Madagascar really achieve an efficient circular economy?

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

References

Dasgupta, S., Martin, P. & Samad, H. A. (2015) Lessons from Rural Madagascar on Improving Air Quality in the Kitchen. The Journal of Environment & Development. 24(3), 345-369. Available from: https://journals-sagepub-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/doi/full/10.1177/1070496515588590?utm_source=summon&utm_medium=discovery-provider [Accessed: 4 March 2022].

Qin, L., Wang, M., Zhu, J., Wei, Y., Zhou, X. & He, Z. (2021) Towards Circular Economy through Waste to Biomass Energy in Madagascar. Complexity. 1-10. Available from: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/complexity/2021/5822568/ [Accessed: 4 March 2022].

Zielinska-Dawidziak, M., Czlapka-Matyasik, M., Wojciechowska, Z., Proch, J. & Niedzielski, P. (2021) Concentration of Selected Elements in the Hair of Madagascar Girls in Relation to Nutritional Status and Place of Residence. British Journal of Nutrition. 1-11. Available from: https://www-cambridge-org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/concentration-of-selected-elements-in-the-hair-of-madagascar-girls-in-relation-to-nutritional-status-and-place-of-residence/C4F9F1268EA957D286284F9853B99C54 [Accessed: 4 March 2022].

✿ Madagascar (I)

Hi everyone! To start off the week, let’s check out Madagascar’s air quality! As seen in the screenshot from IQAir, Madagascar’s air seems relatively clean. Does this mean Madagascar is free from pollution?

Let’s take a look at this video:

You can easily see how Madagascar is as polluted as many of the other countries we previously looked at in my earlier blogposts! Can the Pollution Action Plan and Global Alliance on Health and Pollution really help the people in Madagascar fight pollution? Or is it just an uncommitted initiative to satisfy certain parties in the country?

I would not have known how polluted Madagascar was if I did not search it up on various news sites. UNICEF reported that more than 1 in 5 deaths in Madagascar is caused by pollution exposure. Just as in Indonesia, car idling in constant traffic jams is one of the major reasons for air pollution. Just as in Haiti and Fiji, indoor cooking and the use of coal-operated stoves lead to various respiratory diseases. Water pollution that happens in Madagascar, and likewise, in many other countries in the Global South is due to widespread open defecation. In turn, these contaminated water supply causes children to suffer from diarrhea and in turn, malnutrition because these children are unable to digest and absorb the relevant nutrients to survive. You can read more about indoor air pollution in Madagascar here, or here.

At this point, do you feel like everything is starting to get hopeless? It seems that a lot of these countries are facing the same causes of pollution, yet no real change is happening. It’d be great to know what you think!

Fortunately, the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution published a report to provide a concrete action plan to manage the harms of pollution in Madagascar. Unfortunately, they do not take into consideration the consequences pollution brings to wildlife. I don’t know about you, but when I think of Madagascar, I immediately think of the 2 movies produced by Dreamworks Animation. Yet, why is the world not worried about the animals of Madagascar? This article explores how pollution harms birds. It’s a pity that this once-oasis has now become a living hell for birds. My next post this week will look into some interesting papers done by researchers studying various aspects of pollution.

See you in the next one! ✿

References

Dasgupta, S., Martin, P., Samad, H. A. (2013) Addressing Household Air Pollution: A Case Study in Rural Madagascar. 13 November. World Bank Policy Research Working Papers. Available from: https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/1813-9450-6627 [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

Duke University (n. d.) Cookstoves and Air Pollution in Madagascar: Finding Winning Solutions for Human Health and Biodiversity (2016-2017). Available from: https://bassconnections.duke.edu/project-teams/cookstoves-and-air-pollution-madagascar-finding-winning-solutions-human-health-and [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

Environment Care (2019) Overcoming Madagascar’s number one killer: Pollution. 6 August. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4abE7pEr6k&feature=emb_imp_woyt [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

GAHP (n. d.) Madagascar Health and Pollution Action Plan Accelerating the Implementation of Actions to Reduce Pollution-Related Illness. Available from: http://gahp.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Madagascar-HPAP_EN.pdf [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

IQAir (2022) Air Quality in Madagascar. 1 March. Available from: https://www.iqair.com/madagascar [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

Rasolofomboahangy, V. (2020) In Madagascar’s Capital, Pollution Threatens an Oasis for Birds. 2 July. Available from: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/in-madagascars-capital-pollution-threatens-an-oasis-for-birds/ [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

Solve Pollution Network (2021) Overcoming Madagascar’s Number One Killer: Pollution. 1 April. Available from: https://solutions.leverforchange.org/100-change-2020/overcoming-madagascars-number-one-killer-pollution/ [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

UNICEF (2019) Combatting Pollution and its Effects on the Health of Children in Madagascar. 10 July. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/madagascar/en/press-releases/combatting-pollution-and-its-effects-health-children-madagascar [Accessed: 1 March 2022].

✿ Indonesia (II)

Hi everyone! In today’s second post of the week, I will be covering 5 academic articles.

Three of the articles I found focus on air pollution caused by traffic congestion and wildfires. In Hayasaka et al. (2014) found that peat fires contribute to most of the photochemical smog in Indonesia. These fires produce various pollutants such as particulate matter (PM10), SO2, CO, O3, and NO2. There also a bunch of other pollutants mentioned in their paper, as seen in the screenshots below:

These fires are necessary, to make way for land used for oil palm plantations. These plantations are in high demand due to the demand for biofuels in the country. In McCarthy & Zen’s (2009) paper, I’ve learnt that Indonesia has attempted to regulate the expansion of this agro-industry to fight the pollution that it causes. These attempts include new governance approaches such as the introduction of ISO (International Organization for Standardizations) 14001 series of environmental management systems, as well as the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certification system. However, they argue that they have been largely unsuccessful, because industries do not conduct proper EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments). Local agencies also have collusive forms of interaction with polluting industries. Corruption is not an issue exclusive to Indonesia. Many other countries in the Global South suffer from this too.

Apart from wildfires, air pollution in Indonesia is also caused by vehicles on congested roads. Kashima et al. (2010) attempted to find a two-way relationship between indoor and outdoor air pollution. As mentioned in a previous blogpost on Haiti and Fiji, indoor air pollution from indoor cooking is a phenomenon experienced in many countries in the Global South. As such, Kashima et al.’s findings proved that this was the case in Indonesia as well, and that indoor air pollution exacerbated the health effects residents faced as a result of outdoor air pollution. Put simply, outdoor air pollution simultaneously happens at the same time with indoor air pollution, leading to more respiratory issues for people.

The other two papers I found focused on pollution caused by plastics. In Firdaus et al.’s (2020) paper, I learnt about the density separation method. Through this method, Firdaus et al. investigated the presence and characteristics of microplastics in the sediment of an estuary and coast in Surabaya. They used a stereomicroscope to identify the sizes, components and colors of these microplastics. It is a relatively science-y paper, so I suggest you check it out to learn more! Meanwhile, Tyllianakis & Ferrini’s (2021) focused on studying the willingness of citizens to pay to reduce marine plastic pollution in Indonesia. They found that people are willing to pay only 15 euros, or as much as 2% of their average monthly salaries, to reduce marine plastic pollution per year. This is enlightening because it shows that citizens are willing to go out of their way to protect their environment. With research findings like these present, it is up to governments to pick up the challenge and design pollution mitigation and coping strategies for its citizens. I wonder if locals in other countries in the Global South are this committed too.

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

References

Firdaus, M., Trihadiningrum, Y. & Lestari, P. (2020) Microplastic Pollution in the Sediment of Jagir Estuary, Surabaya City, Indonesia. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 150, 1-9. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0025326X19309464?via%3Dihub [Accessed: 25 February 2022].

Hayasaka, H., Noguchi, I., Putra, E. I., Yulianti, N. & Vadrevu, K. (2014) Peat-Fire-Related Air Pollution in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Environmental Pollution. 195, 257-266. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0269749114002784 [Accessed: 25 February 2022].

Kashima, S., Yorifuji, T., Tsuda, T., Ibrahim, J. & Doi, H. (2010) Effects of Traffic-Related Outdoor Air Pollution on Respiratory Illness and Mortality in Children, Taking Into Account Indoor air Pollution in Indonesia. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 52(3), 340-345. Available from: https://oce-ovid-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/00043764-201003000-00015/HTML [Accessed: 25 February 2022].

McCarthy, J. & Zen, Z. (2009) Regulating the Oil Palm Boom: Assessing the Effectiveness of Environmental Governance Approaches to Agro-Industrial Pollution in Indonesia. Law & Policy. 32(1), 153-179. Available from: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00312.x [Accessed: 25 February 2022].

Tyllianakis, E. & Ferrini, S. (2021) Personal Attitudes and Beliefs and Willingness to Pay to Reduce Marine Plastic Pollution in Indonesia. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 173, 1-11. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0025326X21011541?via%3Dihub [Accessed: 25 February 2022].

✿ Indonesia (I)

Hi everyone! To start off the week, let’s take a look at Indonesia’s air quality from IQAir. Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. Hence, I figured that it would be wise to zoom out and capture air quality levels throughout its many islands.

As you can see in the image, air quality levels are in the moderate range. But does having a lower AQI value as compared to other countries discussed in this blog so far indicate that air pollution is not a problem for the country? Unfortunately, not.

As Singaporeans, we know better than anyone about the severe forest fires that happen in Indonesia. We will complain about the haze it brings, and feel angry and hopeless. But have we spared a thought to think about the people who actually live in these areas? UNICEF explains that air pollution affects babies even before they are born. Imagine being born into a polluted city, and never knowing what a non-polluted world is like!

Indonesians often lament about the smog that hovers its capital city Jakarta. I have been to the city around 5 years ago, and I agree that the air in Jakarta is significantly different from Singapore. The air has a distinct smell, and if I happened to be exerting myself physically on a particular day, I would feel easily breathless and uncomfortable. There is just too much smoke coming out from the vehicles on the roads! Imagine having to breathe in air like that on a daily basis! The BBC, ABC and CNN have reported on the government’s negligence in managing air pollution in the city. In 2019, residents filed a lawsuit against the government for not monitoring the capital’s air conditions. The smog that persists in the city is caused by heavy traffic and coal-fired power plants that are not fitted with filters. These are issues that the government has not tackled up until today. A more pressing issue that the government is handling pretty badly is the issue of land submergence. To read more on how the government aims to deal with sea-level rise and city flooding by shifting its capital to another region, you can click the BBC hyperlink above, or in the reference section. In short, the government is mainly to blame for air pollution, and this case study proves that society can make a change.

If Indonesia successfully cleans up its air, as claimed by Greenstone & Fan (2019), Indonesians can live as much as 8 months or 2.5 years longer. But what have researchers said about Indonesia’s pollution problem? I will cover 5 research papers in the next post.

See you in the next one! ✿

References

BBC (2021) Indonesia President Found Negligent Over Jakarta’s FIlty Air. 16 September. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58554331 [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

Greenstone, M. & Fan, Q. C. (2019) Indonesia’s Worsening Air Quality and its Impact on Life Expectancy. Air Quality Life Index. Available from: https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Indonesia-Report.pdf [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

IQAir (2022) Air Quality in Indonesia. 21 February. Available from: https://www.iqair.com/indonesia [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

Rayda, N. (2021) IN FOCUS: The Ongoing Struggle to Reduce Air Pollution in Jakarta and Why the Problem has Persisted. 20 November. Channel News Asia. Available from: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-jakarta-air-pollution-emissions-vehicles-factories-2285926 [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

Salim, N. (2021) Indonesian President Guilty of Environmental Negligence in Lawsuit over Jakarta’s Chronic Air Pollution. 17 September. ABC News. Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/air-pollution-in-indonesia-court-case-jakarta/100233996 [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

Sood, A. (2021) Jakarta Residents Win Battle for Clean Air Against Indonesian Government. 16 September. CNN World. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/16/asia/jakarta-citizen-lawsuit-air-pollution-intl-hnk/index.html [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

UNICEF (2019) Indonesia: 10 Million Children at Risk from Air Pollution Due to Wild Forest Fires. 24 September. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/indonesia-10-million-children-risk-air-pollution-due-wild-forest-fires [Accessed: 21 February 2022].

✿ Some Reflections

Hi everyone! This is another unplanned post I thought I could do since it’s recess week! I hope all of you are taking the time to rest, but also catch up on your assignments and submissions. On today’s post, I thought I could summarize some of the things I’ve noticed from doing research on the countries I have covered so far.

As mentioned by Larr & Neidel (2016), many countries that are going through rapid development often witness higher levels of pollution than countries that are already developed. These countries are mainly countries in the Global South. Also, equatorial regions are more likely to see warmer environmental conditions as a result of climate change. These regions tend to be homes to a much greater share of the poor nations of the Global South.

Children tend to suffer the most from pollution. Almost all the impacts of the main types of pollution (air, water, and land) affect their neurodevelopment, cognitive functioning, behaviour, and mental health. As argued by Perera (2017), unless our leaders act forcefully right now, the children of today and tomorrow will inherit an unsustainable world that lacks the ecological resources and social stability to support them. This is what Perera terms environmental injustice – the heavy health and economic burden brought by pollution fall disproportionately on the poor and the young, especially those from the Global South. They are the most vulnerable to the impacts of toxic pollutants.

This is a relatively short post but I just thought that I needed to include these reflections I made somewhere. That’s it for today’s post. Up next, my usual posts. See you in the next one! ✿

References

Larr, A.S. & Neidell, M. (2016) Pollution and Climate Change. The Future of Children. 26 (1), 93-113.

Perera, F. (2017) Pollution from Fossil-Fuel Combustion is the Leading Environmental Threat to Global Paediatric Health and Equity: Solutions Exist. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15 (1), 16.

✿ Haiti (II)

Hi everyone! In today’s second post of the week, I will be covering some academic material I discovered throughout the past few days.

I mentioned in my previous post that IQAir did not have any data on the air quality in Haiti. This finding was supported by Davis & Rappaport (2014). According to them, air quality data is remarkably limited in poor countries, and especially countries that have just resolved a conflict, or recovered from a disaster. In these countries, international relief efforts tend to focus on more pressing issues such as housing, water and sanitation, and infectious diseases. Water is a necessity for us to survive. Despite initiatives to manage water in a country like Haiti, why is water pollution still an issue for its people? This was not something that they covered. Instead, they focused solely on air pollution.

According to them, when a country is hit by an unfortunate event, such as war or a natural hazard, energy supply networks become stressed. For instance, “diesel generator use is significantly increased during periods of unstable energy supply, while the traffic congestion of high polluting old model vehicles is exacerbated by damaged road networks and crumbling infrastructure” (p. 22). Ironic, isn’t it? But this is the reality on the ground, and it is the reason why air pollution persists.

Even though Haiti is underdeveloped and does not have a lot of industries, there are still many non-industrial sources of air pollution. Haiti’s poor transportation infrastructure allows a congested mix of old vehicles that remain idle, and clog densely populated areas, thus releasing many air pollutants into the air, and worsening air quality. According to them, many people fall victim to both outdoor and indoor (as mentioned in the previous post) pollution because they tend to live near these sources of pollution. Because temporary camps and settlements get easily crowded after a natural disaster, people tend to together in less-safe areas that are less crowded. Despite this, there are barely any national or international organizations in these kinds of countries to monitor air quality, or regulate environmental and public health concerns.

The second paper by Trevors & Saier (2010) provides more room for discussion. They use Haiti as an example, but suggest various pathways people from developed nations can work towards. If we are to be worried about the welfare of mankind, and the elimination of pollution, we have to start from the source. We need to make sure unstable governments manage their ideological, cultural, or religious issues, before they make baseless claims to protect the environment and its people. We need to make sure international organizations have a common empathy to help nations in need. We also need citizens who are aware, and who are willing to fight for change. But is this really the kind of solution for people who are suffering from pollution in disaster-prone, and war-torn countries? The issues are complex. Can Haiti really achieve such a resolve? I hope to find a way to conclude my research on these many countries in the Global South on a hopeful note. Until then, I will focus on sharing the realities of those who are suffering from pollution.

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

References

Davis, M. E. & Rappaport, A. (2014) Air Quality in Developing World Disaster and Conflict Zones – The Case of Post-Earthquake Haiti. Science of The Total Environment. 496, 22-25. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0048969714010055?via%3Dihub [Accessed: 18 February 2022].

Trevors, J. T. & Saier, M. H. (2010) The Crisis in Haiti, 2010: What’s to be Done. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution. 212, 1-2. Available from: https://link-springer-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/10.1007%2Fs11270-010-0338-8 [Accessed: 18 February 2022].

✿ Haiti (I)

Hi everyone! To start off the week, let’s look at Haiti! Unfortunately, the usual IQAir website I refer to does not have any air quality data contributors. It might be due to the fact that Haiti is a relatively underdeveloped and understudied area. Regardless, data from IAMAT shows that the air quality is unsafe, because the PM2.5 concentration is 15 micrograms/cubic metre, which exceeds the recommended maximum of 10 micrograms/cubic metre. If you think of Haiti, I am sure you would think of the natural disasters that happened long ago. How do such events relate to pollution in Haiti?

Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake on the 12^th of January in 2010. The 7.0Mw earthquake exacerbated many of the current problems in the country. One of which is water pollution. Haiti has been struggling with sanitation problems for years. Its beaches are filled with trash its waterways are smelly, filled with swarms of dead fish and floating debris. The earthquake only worsened the conditions of water sources.

Water pollution is still a problem, because Haiti experiences frequent hurricanes. Hurricanes contribute to coastal flooding, and in Haiti where coasts are filled with rubbish, water pollution seems like an incessant threat that cannot be fought. Some of you might think, “Why can’t they just pick up the rubbish themselves, or throw rubbish in appropriate areas?” Locals have shared that they cannot simply do so because they need to use any time they have to earn money, because they are poor. They also cannot move elsewhere, because it is equally polluted elsewhere in the country. Its government is too occupied dealing with recovering its economy, that environmental issues get set aside.

Locals also do not have proper kitchens to cook. Just like the natives in Fiji, many households depend on indoor cooking, which worsens air pollution risks. The image below shows how some mothers cook for their family. These rudimentary stoves cause smoke to be concentrated in a tight area. Mothers can suffer from eye and respiratory issues because of the harmful chemicals, particulate matters, and carcinogens released from the burning of charcoal to cook.

If you click on the link which directs you to where this image was from, and scroll down to the end of the article, you will read about initiatives from the grassroots. Some people have suggested households to utilize ethanol-based fuel rather than charcoal to reduce mothers’ exposures from cooking using open fires. But how effective have such initiatives been? In the next post of the week, I will be looking at 2 research papers on Haiti.

See you in the next one! ✿

References

Dover, F. (2010) Haiti’s Legacy of Environmental Devastation Compounded by Earthquake. 1 March. Scientific American. Available from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talk-haitis-legacy/ [Accessed: 14 February 2022].

Herlinger, C. (2018) Environmental Vulnerabilities are Linked to Every Other Problem in Haiti. 19 April. Available from: https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/environmental-vulnerabilities-are-linked-every-other-problem-haiti [Accessed: 14 February 2022].

IAMAT (2020) Haiti General Health Risks: Air Pollution. 16 April. Available from: https://www.iamat.org/country/haiti/risk/air-pollution#:~:text=In%20accordance%20with%20the%20World,maximum%20of%2010%20%C2%B5g%2Fm3. [Accessed: 14 February 2022].

IQAir (2022) Air Quality in Haiti. 14 February. Available from: https://www.iqair.com/haiti [Accessed: 14 February 2022].

Mount Sinai (2019) Indoor Cooking and Air Pollution Risks in Homes in Haiti and Around the World. 27 September. Available from: https://health.mountsinai.org/blog/indoor-cooking-and-air-pollution-risks-in-homes-in-haiti-and-around-the-world/ [Accessed: 14 February 2022].