Environmental Pollution

Study Notes

Substances that escape into the environment can cause health problems, birth defects, cancer, and even premature death.
Air pollution can cause short-term discomfort, smarting of eyes, and coughing.
Exhaust fumes from engines contain pollutants like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides, which can produce brown photochemical smog.
Air pollution can cause respiratory problems and affect forests.

Excessive noise from industries, hammers, jet planes, and loud music can cause permanent loss of hearing.
Noise can also produce other harmful effects on human health and work performance.

Acid rain occurs when SO2 and nitrogen oxides from burning fossil fuels combine with water vapor in the atmosphere.
Acid rain can damage water, forests, and soil resources, leading to the disappearance of fish in lakes and corrosion of buildings.
It can also be hazardous to human health.

The increased greenhouse effect leads to an increase in the Earth's temperature.
Chlorofluorocarbons and aerosols can damage the ozone layer, causing skin cancer.

Use of fuels low in pollutants, such as low-sulfur petroleum, and more complete burning of fossil fuels can help control pollution.
Recycling of pollutants and shifting to less polluting forms of power generation, such as solar energy, can also help.
International agreements, such as those on the limitation of sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions, can help reduce pollution.

Pakistan's environmental concerns are associated with unsustainable social-economic development, high population growth rate, and lack of public awareness of environmental education.
Mismanagement of natural resources, unplanned urban and industrial expansions, and rapid urbanization are also major issues.
The World Bank and UNIDO are implementing projects to address these issues.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognizes the intrinsic value of biological diversity and its components.
Pakistan ratified the CBD in 1994 and is a member of CBD.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn), and the World Heritage Convention also aim to protect and conserve biological diversity.
A bio-diversity action plan has been prepared using financial assistance from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Desertification is land degradation in arid and semi-arid areas resulting from climatic variations and human activities.
Pakistan ratified the convention in 1996.

The convention defines environmental modification techniques as changing the dynamics, composition, or structure of the earth through the deliberate manipulation of natural processes.
Pakistan ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2005.

The Basel Convention is an international treaty that aimed to reduce the movement of hazardous waste between nations and prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries.
The convention does not address the movement of radioactive waste.
Pakistan acceded to the convention in 1994.

The treaty provided new universal legal controls for the management of marine natural resources and the control of pollution.
It is the most recent major development in international law governing the oceans.