The Asian Dust: Yellow Dust and Desert Storm - Research Paper Example

Introduction The natural environment is more concerned with what exists naturally on the Earth, either living or non living. It includes all the factors and conditions that have some impact on the growth and development of the organisms, for example light, air, atmosphere, water, and all the living species (World Ecological Problem, 2008). A century ago, the impact of world’s living ecosystem was much less. The planet’s resources consumption by the humans was less and not damaging, but today, not only the destruction can be witnessed, but also felt personally in the form of shortages of resources and other environmental changes, such as global warming, air pollution, water pollution etc (Dr. Anthoni, 2001). The threats and problems that human beings are facing as a result of environmental changes are health, climate change, atmospheric pollution, soil erosion, species diversity, exploitation, carbon emission, sustainable water use etc. Humans and the environment are deeply interconnected, and the needs and health of one should best be explored by examining and responding to the needs of the other as well. Without the health of the environment humans are unable to thrive, and thus human treatment and relationship with the environment can be seen as a reflection of human treatment and perception of the self. The humans have made significant effects on the environment through their activities both in positive and negative ways. The positive affects are the appropriate consumption of the natural resources while the negative ones are the human activities that are responsible for the environmental changes such as global warming, pollutions, desertification etc. The problems that are posing as a threat to the environmental health are mainly due to the human activities that are implying negative effects on the environment. The most major environmental problem is global warming. Global warming occurred due to the increase in the average earth’s temperature. According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century (IPCC, 2007). The most observed temperature increase occurred in the middle of the 20th century due to the human activities that included deforestation; even though trees remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, yet another factor that causes global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels results in the production of air pollutants. The acid rains, due to the combustion of fossil fuels, not only affect the natural areas but also the overall environment. The effects that resulted from the global warming are the more frequent occurrence of hurricanes; some areas are becoming wetter while others are facing drought issues; floods are occurring due to the sea level rise and increase in the heat waves. These are the most deadly impacts of the climate change or global warming. The other major problem is water pollution. This is caused by the pollutants that are discharged into the water directly or indirectly by factories, sewage treatment plants, and city drains. The effects of water pollution are: the acid rain that harms the fish and plants in the lakes and rivers, infectious diseases like typhoid and cholera that are spreading through the polluted water etc. (Effects of water pollution, 2009). Other major environmental problems include land/soil erosion, deforestation, bio-diversity, atmospheric pollution, overpopulation, and desertification. Desertification is another major problem that is becoming more and more common in almost every part of world. It is the extreme deterioration of land in dry and sub humid areas. It is due to drought and the loss of vegetation. Due to desertification the land becomes dry and turns out to be like a desert. No agricultural productions can be done on that part of land. Desertification results mainly from man-made activities and climatic changes. It is principally caused by overgrazing, over drafting of groundwater and diversion of water from rivers for human consumption and industrial use. All of these processes are fundamentally driven by overpopulation (Saavedra, 2006). When the population increases the natural resources are not consumed adequately by the people this not only destroys the resources but also create environmental degradation. This is usually in the areas where there are more industries and more population. Background The Asian dust, also known as the yellow dust, yellow wind, or the China dust storm is the seasonal phenomenon which specifically affects East Asia. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia, Northern China and Kazakhstan where high speed surface winds and dust storms make up dense clouds of soil particles. The clouds are then carried eastwards and pass through China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan. Sometimes the winds are so strong that these clouds of soil are transported as far away as the west coast of the United States and southern British Columbia, Canada (Chun, Cho, Chung, Lee, 2008). The major cause of this dust storm is the annual rainfall in this area, which is below 400mm, and the uneven division of seasons. Asian dust storms are a form of air pollution. Exposure to these pollutants is associated with infection to the respiratory system. A recent research has shown that Asian dust storms result in the respiratory symptoms in the adult asthmatic patients as well as in children. In the research by the Faculty of Public Health, College of Health Sciences it was observed that the respiratory symptoms and signs were significantly higher in the Asian dust days than in the ordinary days when the dust storm events doesn’t occurs. The use of bronchodilator was noted more in the Asian dust days. The admissions in the hospitals for congestive heart failure and respiratory problems were higher as compared to the admissions in the ordinary or controlled days. There was a prominent increase of 3.65% in the admissions for the cardiovascular diseases and 8% increase for the respiratory and asthma problems (Yang, Taai, Chang, Ho, 2005). What makes this situation serious is that the tiny dust particles typically are heavily coated with iron and a substantial fraction of that iron is released to the lung tissue when the particles are inhaled and iron is particularly efficient in producing an inflammatory response in the lungs. The others impacts of these dust storms on human beings are the daily prevalence of sore throat, cough, and eye irritation, which was found to be higher during the Asian dust days as compared to the ordinary days (Yoo, Choung, Yu, Koh, 2008). Asian dust storms also affect the animals. Animals are found dead with a coating of dust on their stomach and lungs. Most of them die because of the lung diseases (Achudume & Oladipo, 2009). Both humans and animals respiratory system functions in the same manner, the diseases which affect the humans respiratory system also affects the animals. All the living things are affected in the same manner by the dust storms. The animals and plants are more opportunistic to get affected by the dust storms as compared to the humans. The animals and plants are more allergic to the micro organisms, viruses and bacteria present in the dust storms. Asian dust storms also affect the environment. When the clouds of dust are transported from the desert, they take the topsoil layer with them. This soil is very much needed for the agricultural purpose. The dust storms remove the organic matters and nutrients rich lightest particles, therefore reducing the agricultural productivity, resulting in the desertification and drought. The soil particles either get dumped in towns resulting in health problems for humans and animals, or they clog up the water pipes and filters. These particles are then transported to the sea in the form of mud, and clog the gills of marine creatures, thus affecting all the aspects of life (Qian & Zhu, 2001). Fishes are exported from China to different parts of the world. Asian dust storms are not only affecting the environment of China but also the economy. Major exports are either the agricultural products or the animals. Both are under the affect of storms and proving as a threat to the trade of China. The affects that the Asian dust has made on China were summarized by Qian and Zhu in 2001 in their article “Climate Change in China from 1880 to 1998 and its Impact on the Environmental Condition”. According to the research made, a drought index has been formulated corresponding to both the temperature and precipitation. Some interesting facts are revealed using the wavelet transform method. In Northeast China, the aridification trend has become more serious since the 1970s. Drought index in North China has also reached a high value during 1990s, which seems similar to the period between 1920s–1940s. In Northwest China, the highest temperature appeared over the period 1930s–1940s. In South China, temperature remained at a high value over the period 1910s–1940s, but the smaller-scale variation of drought index was remarkable from 1880 to 1998. On the other hand, regular floods along the Yangtze River and high frequency of drought disaster have led to terrific economic losses in the last decade in China. In the northern areas of China, desertification and destruction of vegetation around the desert is attributed to the dust storms. This trend in the northern China has been going on for decades; more of the land is becoming desert and the soil is becoming useless for growing crops. The desert monitoring results show that China has more than 2.6 million square kilometer of land desertification, i.e. 27.9% of the total land area (Qian & Zhu, 2001). Asian dust storms affect everything from non living things to living things. The economy of China is being affected by Asian dust storms. Not only the agricultural sector is being affected but the exports are also affected. China is the largest producer of rice. Further it is also producing wheat, soybeans, corn, potatoes, peanuts, tea and barley. The agricultural exports such as fruits, grain, vegetables and fish are exported to different parts of the world. Mostly the productions are done on small pieces of land. The environmental problems such as desertification, drought and soil erosion are posing a serious threat to farming in different parts of china. The northern China is affected by desertification and soil erosion while the Southern China is affected by drought. Solutions The solutions that can prove to be effective are to prevent desertification. As a result of desertification Asian dust storm occurs. Desertification is caused not only but natural factors but also by some human activities. The natural factors include climate change, strong winds, and low precipitation, while the human activities that affect are the misuse of water resources, overgrazing, and irrational land use. The solutions to prevent desertification can be to establish different demonstration villages that can show people how the crops can be grown in the desertified areas. One such village is already functioning in Africa, which helps people in planting trees and tell them new farming methods. Certain types of rocks are found that can be used as a fertilizer, thus making use of the natural fertilizers instead of the fertilizers made from chemicals. The fertilizers when used will make the land fertile resulting in an agricultural land. Later the land can be used for growing crops or for grazing, in this way desertification can be prevented as the land will be used adequately and will prevent it from drying out. The people and the scientists should collaborate in preventing desertification as both have different point of views they both are concerned with the things about which thy have knowledge or are interested. Ordinary people are more concerned with their lives, how they can earn for their living or how they can excel in getting more from what they are doing regardless of the affects, while scientists are more concerned with the environment how they can bring up strategies that are less effective for the atmosphere and the environment. Their collaboration can bring up the methods that are effective for both the environment and lifestyle of the people (Saavedra, 2006). The scientist can make people learn about deciding between the things that are in favor of both the people and the environment. Once the ordinary people are taught about what to do they will adopt environment friendly lifestyle. This will also help the farmers in the appropriate usage of land and avoiding the causes of desertification and other land related problems. Management systems can be developed that can protect the soil from any type of degradation. The management systems may include a team of people who are expert in dealing with the preservation of the nutrients in the soil, who know how to conserve the originality of soil even if any problem occurs. This management system may also need help of the local authority. Mostly this problem occurs due to overgrazing, over farming and poor irrigation practices. To resolve this problem, the land can be used for a specific thing; either just for grazing, farming, or just for water; and once the land is back to normal it can be used for multiple purposes. When all of these that is grazing, farming and storing the water are done on the single piece of land it not only results in the erosion of soil but also does not prove out to be effective for all these purposes. To prevent such type of destruction the land may be used for a single purpose only for the time being once its restored with the nutrients and fertility it an be used for multiple aims. Water management can also help prevent desertification by reserving the rainfall water and stopping the fertile topsoil from running off with it. This can also prevent another biggest problem that is drought. With proper vegetation, the wind and water will not be able to erode topsoil. Creating other opportunities for people to earn a living would help to relieve dependence on land and, in turn, the pressures that are causing desertification. “This kind of urban growth is increased to around 52% in 2010 and to around 60% by 2030” (Saavedra, 2006). Shelter belts of trees can be grown around the deserts that stop the soil from spreading into new areas when wind blows or rainfall occurs. Local communities are required to bring up policies that are helpful in preventing desertification. Information should be provided to the land managers about the measures that can prevent desertification; measures that can be taken by the local communities to help would involve restocking the soil with organic matter, establishing seed banks, and reintroducing selected plant species to the area, according to the climatic and atmospheric suitability. Nutrient replenishment, terracing, and reforestation can also help reducing land erosion (Saavedra, 2006). Other solutions for the prevention of desertification can be that the local authorities participate in reforestation. Reforestation means the re-stocking of trees; it is the process of restoring and recreating forests that may have existed long ago but were deforested or removed in the past. This can also prevent the dust storms going far away as trees will not only reduce the pressure of winds but also stop the topsoil particles from moving to a new area. Reforestation management can be easy as the only things that will be needed are the measuring rope, genetically modified trees that are developed in the bio-fuel industries, and a dibber that can make a big hole in the land for planting trees instead of the roots only (Canadell, Raupach, 2008). Reforestation can also help in the prevention of global warming. The forests will absorb the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere through their photosynthesis cycle. With reforestation not only desertification problem can be lessened, but it also helps in preventing other environmental issues. As the global warming is reduced, the air pollution and climatic changes will also be prevented. With this, the risk of the after affects like hurricanes, cyclones, floods, and heat waves will also be prevented (Canadell, Raupach, 2008). The drawbacks of this solution are that the land that will be reserved for the forests can in fact be used for any type of food production, livestock grazing, or living space for economic growth. The harvesting rates will be reduced. It might be possible that the land that is used for reforestation is an irrigated land. Further, in the managed reforestation, there will not be the same biodiversity that the original forests have. The natural forests have different species of trees and other vegetations also. With reforestation, a forest similar to the agricultural crops will be grown. Moreover, the forests artificially grown can never be like the natural forests. It has one or the other discrepancies (Canadell, Raupach, 2008). Conclusion The dust storms mainly occur due to the human activities. Either they intervene a lot with the land or just ignore it. Whatever humans are doing, they are doing for their own sake without keeping in view its affects on the environment. All the environmental issues that are arising are due to the lack of human concern and attention. Every issue, whether it is global warming, air pollution, drought, desertification or water pollution, they are due to the negligence of humans. All the environmental problems are interlinked. Global warming is due to air pollution, air pollution is due to deforestation and combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation leads to desertification and drought. Desertification results in the wastage of soil and sand. This leads the human beings to lack of agricultural lands. Everything is being affected by the environmental problems that are humans, animals, economy, environment itself, and atmosphere etc. Reversing the problems is difficult, but by taking adequate measures, further destruction can be prevented. It is necessary to initiate awareness programs in order to raise awareness among all the categories of human beings. This can help us bring better environment to live in and secure a better environment for the future generations. References Achudume, A. & Oladipo, B (2009), Effects of dust storms on Health, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Nigeria. Canadell, J. & Raupach, M., Managing forests for Climate Change, Science, 320 (2008): 1456-1457 Chun, Y., Cho, H., Chung, H. & Lee, M. (2008), Historical Records of Asian dust event, American Meteorological Society. Dr. Anthoni, J F. (2001), Summary of threats to the environment http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/threats.htm#land Effects of Water Pollution (2009) http://scipeeps.com/effects-of-water-pollution IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007) http://www.ipcc.ch Qian, W. & Zhu, Y, Climate Change in China from 1880 to 1998 and its Impact on the Environmental Condition, Volume 50 (2001), Springer Publishers Saavedra, V. (2006), Desertification 101, A Progress Report. http://desertification101.tripod.com World Ecological Problem (2008) http://ecological-problems.com/2008/08/environment-definition-and-meaning.html Yang, C., Taai, S., Chang, C., Ho, S. “Inhalation Toxicolgy” 17 (2005): 817-821. Print Yoo, Y., Choung, J., Yu, J., Koh, Y (2008), Acute Effects of Asian Dust events on Respiratory Symptoms and Peak Expiratory Flow in Children with Mild Asthma, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences. Read More