Modern day Nepal is one of the most polluted and impoverished places in the world. Kathmandu has dangerous levels of air and water pollution, making certain regions of the city nearly unlivable. Additionally, problems like littering and excessive carbon emissions are causing problems for both people and the environment.
Many or most issues regarding air and water pollution can be traced back to the waste disposal system found in most urban and rural regions in Nepal, or rather, lack thereof. Without any convenient way to dispose of trash, people living on hillsides in the Himalayas either burn their trash or throw it into a river, reassured that the cool mountain waters will wash away the numerous scraps and debris. This creates many problems for both people and ecosystems found in Nepal, one of them being excessive water pollution. Groundwater remains to be a major source of water for over 1.5 million people in Nepal, and one study conducted in 2002 showed there to be iron, manganese, and mercury concentrations far exceeding the guideline values. Yet another study conducted in 2006 showed not only high levels of iron, arsenic, and mercury that exceeded Nepalese guidelines, but also found Escherichia Coli (E Coli) bacteria in 72% of all water samples. Those without access to basic sanitation rely on local surface water sources like rivers for bathing and washing clothes. Likewise, because Nepal is one of the poorest regions of the world (with the average person having a GDP of 700 U.S dollars) only 27% of Nepal’s 27.47 million people have access to basic sanitation. Consequently, people living in Nepal are at high risk for such water-borne diseases as diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, and cholera. Sadly, children under the age of f...
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...tween exposure to particulate matter and respiratory problems such as asthma and bronchitis. Children, whose immune and respiratory systems are still developing, are more susceptible to the negative effects of particulate matter exposure, and are more likely to develop chronic respiratory diseases that a full-grown adult. Likewise, because these particles are so small, they can travel long distances and are able to affect regions far from the area where they were originally produced. Furthermore, fine particles such as these are particularly drawn to water and consequently contribute to acid rain, which can kill trees, destroy the leaves of plants, and can permeate soil.
In addition to PM2.5, black carbon (BC) is the strongest light-absorbing component of particulate matter. Likewise, BC has many of the same sources of PM2.5, including fossil fuels and biofuels.
Residents living closest to manufacturing plants and factories reap the most adverse health affect, however, hazardous air pollutants effect the ozone layer which effects everyone.
...million people each year, so that’s 6,000 children every day. Waterborne children are particularly vulnerable to waterborne diseases. Their small bodies take in a disproportionately large quantity of water and its contaminants, and their immune systems are not equipped to fight off bacteria such as E. Coli, Giardia and the Typhoid bacteria. More than 2 million children are killed by such diarrheal diseases each year, and 90 percent of them are kids under five. Global warming is also exacerbating this crisis as severe, prolonged droughts dry up water supplies in barren regions and heavy rains because sewage overflows. In terms of the sheer number of people affected, the lack of access to safe water and basic sanitation is a massive problem. Yet it is a problem with a variety of solutions. People who fall ill from borne diseases their bodies can’t function very well.
The lack of storms due to the drought eliminates the natural cleansing effect of precipitation. Low levels of precipitation trap fine particles at ground level. Fine particles in the air are harmful when inhaled and can heighten respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Air toxics are the chemicals in the air that can cause cancer or serious health problems. Mercury, asbestos, and benzene are dangerous air toxics and diesel exhaust particulate is the number one airborne carcinogen in California (California’s drought, 2015).
Furthermore, more lives could be lost due to the spreading of diseases. With such extreme lacks of sanitation, clean water...
Having dust in the air as you breathe is also something very hazardous. The more dust, the more people had trouble breathing. Dust would make people choke, and the dilicia particles ...
The quality of life granted by the air we breathe is protected by organizations such as the GEPD, ALA, and EPA. These organizations operate as a guide to matters about air pollution for Metro Atlanta and cities across the United States. The population of Metro Atlanta is approximately 5.6 million with air pollutant particle matter ranging from PM2.5 and PM10 micrometers. PM2.5 is a measurement of “fine particles produced from all types of combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning, and some industrial processes” (AirNow, 2017) while PM10 is a measurement of larger “sources which include crushing or grinding operations and dust stirred up by vehicles on roads” (AirNow, 2017).
Many people grab a water bottle to go as they head to life as normal, others in developing countries spend their lives searching for water that is rarely found. Even if they do obtain water, it is seldom clean and usually comes with the risk of disease. As more developed countries pay a dollar or so for a bottle of water, others in less fortunate places worship water as if it is gold. As many children around the world attend a privileged school everyday, the idea of missing school due to water-borne illness never crosses their mind, yet for those in less fortunate countries, it is a gift to have the strength and health to attend school on a regular basis.
Clean water is needed for good human and animal health, but as DoSomething.org states, over 1 billion people worldwide don’t have a means of getting clean drinking water, an...
There are many kinds of air pollution. The ones I want to talk about are the ozone, acid rain, carbon monoxide and toxic air contaminants. Ozone is formed when hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide react in sunlight. Therefore, ozone is at its peak during hot summer days. Exposure to high levels of ozone can have serious consequences on your health. It can cause respiratory disease, loss of pulmonary elasticity, and premature aging of our lungs. Next, is acid rain, which occurs in the atmosphere in the form of sulfur and nitrogen oxide. These pollutants can have serious damaging affects on aquatic, forest and wildlife ecosystems, as well as deterioration of buildings. Carbon monoxide is another form of pollution. It reduces the blood?s ability to carry oxygen. If a human is exposed to higher levels, it can cause chest pains, angina attacks or even death.
Another problem for people of Africa is clear access to clean water. Clean drinking water is very rare for the people of Africa. Unclean water and sanitation problem leads to many diseases in African countries. Main problem which occurs due to unclean water is child morality. Around 2000 children’s die from diarrhoea which spread due to poor sanitatio...
In conclusion, air pollution affects the immune system, making it weak and vulnerable to certain bacteria, illnesses, viruses and foreign invaders. Common diseases that are affected the most include asthma and allergies. Air pollution in general has been seen to modify the immune system's handling of particular allergens. The exposure to toxins like dioxin can cause serious health problems for people. Having long-term exposure to this toxin is connected to weakening of the immune system, as well as the nervous system, endocrine system and certain reproductive functions. Hence, everyone has a particular level and exposure of dioxins in the body. Improving air quality is the key answer to avoiding any type of development of disease, but it is a long term goal that will require the help and commitment at the national and global level.
Approximately 844 million people (one tenth of the population) in the world do not have access to clean and 2.3 billion do not have access to a decent toilet. This poor sanitation and contaminated water quality is the cause of death for over 289 000 children under the age of 5 every year.
Pollution is so harmful to human beings. Polluted water can cause many kinds of diseases, such as diarrhea, enteritis, and so on. And sometimes the diseases even take man’s life. Dirty air or air-borne garbage causes stinging eyes and running nose. Pollutants are destructive. They will cause runs in stockings and crack rubber tires and they always eat away at stone and rust iron. Time and time again, there are serious accidents that polluted the air. For example, At 1986 there was a bad accident at a nuclear power station in Russia. A cloud of radiation crossed the whole Europe. It is said that 125,000 people died in Russia as a result of illnesses caused by that accident. In 1984 there was an accident at a factory in India and a dangerous cloud gas covered the town of Bhopal. Over 2,500 people were killed that night, and hundreds and thousands of people were injured. Many of the injured lost their sight, and it really dangerous, even in our imagination.
they create many breathing and heart conditions like cancer and other threats in the body, that is why children who are exposed through air pollutants are most likely to have pneumonia and asthma.
Factories and transportation depend on huge amounts of fuel--billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around the world every year. When these fuels burn they introduce smoke and other, less visible, by-products into the atmosphere.