Environmental Issues of India and China
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Air Pollution Mumbai , Maharashtra State, India.
Photographer Abraham Nowitz
From Britannica Image Quest
Photographer Abraham Nowitz
From Britannica Image Quest
So what causes air pollution in India, and why has it gone so out of control? Due to the growing economy of India, the nation's large cities have increased their vehicles and construction sites, causing a high rate of outdoor air pollution. In addition, indoor air pollution is caused by people in households that use solid fuels for cooking. India holds a high and dense population of 1.3 billion people, meaning that there are too much people driving vehicles and using fuels.
Overall, the main causes of air pollution are:
- Indoor cook stoves
- Road traffic (the worst are vehicles that use diesel)
- Power Plants
- Burning of coal for energy
- The burning of fossil fuels & biomass in industries
- The burning of waste
The effects of the air pollution: How does air pollution affect the citizens of India?
Air pollution sets India's citizens at risk of death and getting diseases. The most people at risk or likeliness of dying or getting the diseases are the elderly and young children. The outdoor pollution was already killing around 500,000 people, but when the indoor, or household, pollutants were incorporated, the deaths rose to even higher number of deaths per year. How does air pollution cause these numerous amounts of deaths?
For one, air pollution causes heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, respiratory problems, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Children, especially, are heavily affected with respiratory problems when they are older. These diseases often lead to death, creating the high number of deaths per year due to the harmful pollutants. As the deadly levels of air pollution rise, the diseases and problems worsen, sending more and more to the hospitals for treatment and medicine. Many people need medicine and treatment, resulting in an abundance of money being spent on healthcare, negatively affecting their economy.
Air pollution, today more than ever, is more of a health concern than an environmental concern.
Flooding
The cause of flooding is summer monsoons that bring catastrophic rains to the citizens of India. These heavy rains provoke flash flooding, or sudden local floods, and rising water from rivers and groundwater. Most of the floods are in northern, western, and eastern India, causing devastation.
Effects
Due to these heavy rains in the summer, thousands of people have lost their homes, businesses, and farmland. Crops are destroyed, livestock are killed, villages are buried by debris and mud, and some people are swept away by the rushing water of the flood. After the floods go through villages and cities, highways are blocked, hundreds of people are missing, and villages are destroyed leaving hundreds of people stranded, waiting to be rescued, though some never are. Flooding takes the lives of thousands every year. Organizations such as India's National Disaster Response Force help rescue the hundreds trapped in the floods. Schools and companies close.
Many people are angered that every year they are just waiting for the floods to happen. There are no actions taken to prepare the people for the danger, or evacuate the towns. The citizens want more action done to save hundreds of lives.
Mumbai, India. Photographer Dinodia.
From Britannica ImageQuest
From Britannica ImageQuest