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Under
a cloud
The
world body said the haze, a toxic cocktail of ash, acids, aerosols
and other particles, is damaging agriculture from Afghanistan to
Sri Lanka. The lives of millions of people are at risk from drought
and flooding, partly because rainfall patterns have been radically
altered, with dire implications for economic growth and health,
according to the study. "We have
an early warning. We have clear information, and we already have
some impact. But we need much, much more information," UN Environment
Programme chief Klaus Toepfer told a news conference. "There
are also global implications, not least because a pollution parcel
like this, which stretches three kilometres [about two miles] high,
can travel halfway round the globe in a week. Toepfer said
the haze was the result of forest fires; the burning of agricultural
wastes; dramatic increases in the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles,
industries and power stations; and emissions from millions of inefficient
cookers. He said the UN's preliminary report on what it dubbed the
"Asian Brown Cloud" was a timely reminder to the coming
Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, (August 26- September
4) that action, not words, was vital to the future of the planet.
"The huge
pollution problem emerging in Asia encapsulates the threats and
challenges that the summit needs to urgently address," he said.
"We have the initial findings and the technological and financial
resources available. Let's now develop the science and find the
political and moral will to achieve this for the sake of Asia, for
the sake of the world," he added. Scientists
say it's too early to draw definite conclusions about the impact
of the haze, and of similar hazes over East Asia, South America
and Africa. "We need much more basic scientific data to be
able to establish what the consequences are for human health and
the environment," said co-author Paul Crutzen, co-winner of
the 1995 Nobel chemistry prize for his work on the ozone layer.
But they warn the impact could be global. For many years,
scientists believed only lighter "greenhouse gases" -
such as carbon dioxide that is produced from burning fossil fuels
such as gasoline and oil - were global in reach and effect. They
now say microscopic, suspended particles of pollutants - generically
called aerosols by atmospheric scientists - also travel the globe.
It's unclear
what the haze's relationship is to global warming, which many scientists
believe is fuelled by the man-made emission of greenhouse gases
that trap the Earth's heat. The haze appears
to block sunlight, creating some cooling effect on the ground, but
its heat-absorbing properties are thought to be warming the lower
parts of the atmosphere considerably. The combination of surface
cooling and lower atmosphere heating could be altering the winter
monsoon, sharply reducing rainfall over northwestern Asia and increasing
it along the eastern coast. Toepfer said
scientists and policy-makers "should avoid making premature
final assessments", but should start trying to cut pollution
by introducing more efficient heating stoves in developing countries
and turning to solar power and other clean sources of energy. Professor Victor
Ramanathan, one of the more than 200 scientists involved in the
study, said the haze was cutting the amount of solar energy hitting
Earth's surface beneath it by up to 15 percent. "We had
expected a drop in sunlight hitting the earth and sea, but not one
of this magnitude," he said. The report
calculated that the haze - 80 percent of which was man-made - could
cut rainfall over northwest Pakistan, Afghanistan, western China
and western central Asia by up to 40 percent. Apart from
drastically altering rainfall patterns, the haze was also making
the rain acid, damaging crops and trees, and threatening hundreds
of thousands of people with respiratory disease. Crutzen said
atmospheric pollution could be contributing to up to 2 million premature
deaths a year in India alone. "If present trends as they are
continue, then we have a very serious problem," he said. The report
called for special monitoring stations to be set up to watch the
behaviour of the cloud, and its impact on people and the environment.
"The concern
is that the regional and global impacts of the haze are set to intensify
over the next 30 years as the population of the Asian region rises
to an estimated 5 billion people," the report said. Ramanathan,
a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla,
Calif., said the surprises found by the study will drive researchers
to keep studying human impact on the environment. "We've
been looking at environmental issues for the past several decades,
yet the Asian haze came as a major surprise to us," he said.
"We don't know how many more surprises we will find."
How
the pall will affect Lanka
As the alert on the three-kilometre thick blanket was sent out by
the United Nations Environment Programme, Dr. Suren Batagoda told
The Sunday Times that the cloud was observed about three years ago
when UNEP commissioned a study on global warming and climate change
with strong emphasis on cloud formation.
Dr. Batagoda of the Air Resource Management Centre of the Environment
Ministry said the country is studying the 'Brown Cloud' formation.
"As mentioned in the reports put out so far, the blanket of
pollution is reducing the amount of sunlight or solar energy hitting
the earth. This can affect the growth of crops as the photosynthesis
process or the ability of plants to make their own food gets hindered
without sunlight.
"On the other hand the 'Brown Cloud' will also absorb the heat
which is reflected back into the atmosphere by the earth, warming
the lower parts of the atmosphere. This could have effects on the
climate such as rainfall patterns and timing of the monsoons, and
also cause respiratory problems for people. In this situation, the
microclimate, the climate within the immediate proximity of our
country, can be affected as against the global climate."
The brown haze is the result of forest fires, the burning of agricultural
wastes, dramatic increases in the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles,
industries and power stations and emissions from millions of inefficient
cookers burning wood, cow dung and other 'bio fuels', according
to the UN report.
How has Sri Lanka contributed to air pollution? The answer was very
simple - mainly through vehicle emissions and industrial emissions
as a result of burning fuel. A major pollutant, sulphur dioxide,
comes from thermal power plants dotting Colombo.
The Air Resource Management Centre, along with other relevant institutions,
has been implementing a plan of action to curb the country's activities
in polluting the atmosphere. "This is specifically not with
regard to the Brown Cloud but in general," explained Dr. Batagoda.
Three major steps have been taken in Sri Lanka's bid to become more
responsible in its fight against air pollution.
"The first came into effect in June this year, when a ban was
introduced on leaded petrol. The second will be in force by January
next year when all vehicles will have to undergo tests for their
emissions and get certificates to be on the road. The Ministry of
Environment has already gazetted vehicle emission standards, fuel
quality standards and vehicle importation standards. One hundred
vehicle testing centres, accredited to the Department for the Registration
of Motor Vehicles will be set up to test emissions," he said.
No link-ups have been made yet among countries in the region to
fight the Brown Cloud, but air pollution has been the focus of the
South Asian Environmental Ministers' Conference and the South Asian
Co-operative Environment Programme, said Dr. Batagoda.
"Plans are also underway to set up weather observation stations
under the Male Declaration to study the transboundary movement of
air pollution. Sri Lanka may soon have such stations in Pidurutalagala,
Horton Plains or Anuradhapura."
The Brown Cloud cannot be blamed on any one of the countries. It's
a collection of emissions from different countries. When there is
a concentration of sulphur and other secondary particles in the
atmosphere, a photochemical smog, which is reddish brown, is formed.
This contains a high content of noxious gases, explains Priyantha
Samarakkody of the Air Quality Monitoring Programme of the NBRO.
If it comes down with rain water, it could affect human life, vegetation,
forest cover and materials such as rubber and plastic.
"The biodiversity, Asian countries are famous for could face
problems. Sensitive species may die out. In people, there is the
possibility of skin cancer, asthma and eye irritations. An adult
inhales 13 cubic metres of air per day. Children breathe more air
per their body weight. Their respiratory systems are developing,"
he said.
Countries need to be more accountable. The damage from the Brown Cloud could be wide ranging but also within nature there is a natural scavenging system, such as rain and wind, which could dilute the effects of the cloud," he says. Adding
fireworks to the fire
This is the question that Hemantha Withanage of the Environmental
Foundation has in the backdrop of warnings against the Asian Brown
Cloud.
The vividly-hued firecrackers costing millions of rupees were given
free by China. The sulphur rises and gets into the clouds and is instrumental in creating acid rain," Mr. Withanage said. 'We
will be affected but …
However, the cloud is in a high pressure area. So it is in a doldrum
state, with a low dispersion capacity. Therefore, our weather patterns
will change.
"This is the monsoon period and in the past few weeks, we have
hardly had any rain. This may be due to the Brown Cloud, among other
regional factors," he said. Low solar radiation will hinder
water evaporation, which in turn will lead to low rainfall and more
drought conditions. Crops and forest cover would be affected.
With regard to the effect of the Brown Cloud on men, women and children,
he said when the atmosphere is polluted it is bound to have an adverse
impact on health. Usually, heavy rains purify the environment, but
fewer showers will cause more disease. Ash and other pollutants
will also have their effect on the people. |
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