NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN

  


HISTORY OR BACKGROUND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTS

First time the trial to introduce the Environmental Legislation in Pakistan was done in 1977. From 1977 to onward many environmental policies, regulations and institutions were built at federal and provincial level. These include:

  • Ministry of Environment
  • Environmental Protection Agencies
  • Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997
  • Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983
  • Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (NCS), 1992
  • Mid Term Review of NCS, 1999
  • NEAP was approved by Chief Executive of Pakistan Environmental Protection Council in February, 2001
DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES OF NEAP

The development objectives of NEAP are as follows:
  • To start such actions and programs:  

1. to gain such environment that improve and maintain the public health
2. promote sustainable living
3. and to increase quality of life of population of Pakistan
  • Focus to instant measures to remediate the deteriorating quality of air, water and land by the help of government agencies and civil societies.
  • NEAP has the focus on addressing the issues of poverty environment nexus.
  • Its focus is towards the limited number of areas where impact could be seen earlier.
  • It suggests a programme approach that has the flexibility in addressing the core issues, dealing effectively with priorities, addressing the cross cutting issues such as gender, poverty reduction, capacity building.
PRGRAMME OBJECTIVES 

Following measures are taken to achieve the objectives of NEAP:
  • Focus is on activities completion and providing the services in order to reduce the poverty via environmental projects
  • According to Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 the policies focused on the reduction of health risks in poor community of population. 
  • Programmes for addressing the deforestation, desertification, rangeland degradation will be incorporated with other social organization at base level.
  • Poverty alleviation programs will be supported to make the programs environmentally effective and prevent the impacts on poor.
  • The technical and human resources that are available in Pakistan will be used maximally.  
  • To fulfill these programme objectives NEAP proposed the common institutional framework that provide sufficient resources, give professional leadership, monitoring and implementation of system and political commitments to program. 
  • Private sectors and NGOs are also promoted to incorporate with projects.

LOVE CANAL TRAGEDY

  

INTRODUCTION


Love Canal is a canal existed in Niagara Falls, New York. Love Canal is named after William T. Love. Love Canal Tragedy is concerned with the heavy amount of toxic waste disposal in canal and related health problems originated from the event.

LOVE DREAM

Love Canal was originally a dream community. A dream seen by William T. Love. He wanted to dig a short canal between upper and lower Niagara Rivers. The purpose for which the canal was made was to generate the electricity that could be supplied to industries and homes to make the city a model city. 

The Love dream was not able to endure the changes such as change in economy and Nicola Tesla discovery how to transmit economically the power to long distances through alternating current.

THE LOVE CANAL TRAGEDY

In 1910 Love dream was devastated by a trench dug at the site where Love Canal has to be started. By 1920 nightmare seeds were planted at the site. Gradually the canal was converting into a industrial waste dumpsite.

THE HOOKER CHEMICAL COMPANY

The main culprit behind the Love Canal was the Hooker Chemical Company. Hooker company needed a land to dispose off their waste. In 1942 the the Hooker got permission from Niagara Power and Development Company to dump their waste in canal. In 1947 Hooker purchased the canal and 70 foot wide banks on both sides of canal. He started dump his industrial waste and Niagara City and army also dump their waste in canal. In 1953 the city stopped dumping waste. The dumpsite was in operation till 1953. In the time period of 5 years 21,00 tons of chemical waste was dumped in the canal. The chemicals dumped were alkalies, fatty acids and chlorinated hydrocarbons released from dyes, perfumes, rubbers, solvents and resins. Hooker sold the canal for $1 in 1953.


DISASTROUS EFFECTS
  • Twenty Five years after the company  has stopped dumping, 82 chemicals were percolated upward to soil. Eleven of them were found carcinogenic in nature. Thus leaching the soil and coming in basements of 100 homes and one public school built nearby.
  • Even some of the landfills were closed down while they were fully filled but these acted like time bombs. After some months the Love Canal exploded and the effect was enhanced by heavy rainfall and then leaching started.
  • Drums of waste were breaking and exploding the backyards of grounds.
  • The trees and gardens were dying and were changing into black.
  • One whole swimming pool was exploded with the waste.
  • The children who were playing they have burns on their hands and faces.
  • Everywhere in air there was bad choking smell.
  • Than birth defects were alarming in the areas. Miscarriages were increasing. About 5 defect cases were investigated.
  • The blood cell count was increased in the people leading to the disease leukemia.
STRATEGIES TO REMEDIATE THE SITUATION
  • A drain was built and a collection system of wastes was made to clean the waste.
  • Large pipes were built to carry the waste to sewers.
  • Laws were made to decide where to dump the hazardous waste.
  • All dioxins and chemical contained water was removed.
  • Hooker company was guilty for all the tragic incident.
  • Hooker was sued with $200,000,000.


THE GREEN REVOLUTION

  


What is Green Revolution?

There were many revolutions occurred throughout the history such as American Revolution and Industrial Revolution. The Green Revolution occurred in in mid and late 20th century and in this period global agricultural yield was increased dramatically. 

Why Productivity increased?

  • The productivity in agriculture field was due to new technological advances in agriculture.
  • New chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides were made.
  • The chemical fertilizers were used to increase the nutrient content in crops and to provide better yield of crops.
  • Herbicides and pesticides were used to kill the pests, herbs and insects. These also controlled the diseases.
  • High yield crops were produces and used in the field. These are the crops that are designed to produce more yield.
  • Multiple Cropping was also adopted in that period. Multiple cropping is the method in which two or more than two crops are grown in the field throughout thee year to gain more yield. The productivity is gained throughout the year via any of the crops. 

Benefits of Green Revolution

  •    Production of large amount of food that meet the demand of increasing human population
  •    Norman Borlaug is a famous name when we talk about Green Revolution. His contribution in Green Revolution was great. In 1940s , he produces a strain of wheat that was short in size in Mexico. The wheat has the ability to resist the disease and due to its short nature the wheat was resistant from wind damage. This wheat production was tripled in next twenty years. Through this the food production in Mexico was increased. The other countries also took help from Norman Borlaug to produce wheat in their countries. He helped other developing countries to produce the wheat and to increase their food supply. From Mexico the the export of wheat was also done. He won the Noble peace peace for his remarkable work. He was able to increase the crop yield and help prevent the starvation in many developing countries.
  • In addition to food production, the Green Revolution also made it possible to grow more crops at the same time on same land (multiple cropping). It reduced the cost of production and made the prizes low in the market of food.
  • Multiple cropping has also the benefit t he environment in a way that forest cutting will not be necessary to convert the forest land to agriculture land for the need to grow more crops. 
  • The land not used by agriculture becomes a natural habitat for animals and plants.

Problems with Green Revolution

  • Inspite of many benefits the problems were also faced. 
  • The use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides have the bad effect environment.
  • These materials led to the pollution in soil and water. 
  • Soil quality was disturbed. Soil fertility was reduced and soil erosion like problems were caused.
  • Water was polluted that affect the people as well.
  • The  increase in crop yield required more water. This caused a pressure on the natural water reserves. That led to water shortages and droughts conditions.
  • More energy was consumed in this period due to the utilization of more fossil fuels, machines inspite of human and animal power. Between 1990 and 2000 about 80 % of energy was consumed in agriculture. This consumption of more fossil fuels caused the pollution in environment. 

THE DUST BOWL OF AMERICA IN 1930's

  


Introduction

The dust bowl in America is a catastrophe event occurred in early 1930's. It caused the Midwestern and western farmlands conversion to wastelands. The major reason behind the dust bowl was series of dry years faced in America with vast agricultural practices in unsuitable areas. 

Impacts 

  • Poor tillage practices causes the dust storms and droughts that that devastated the farm lands and ranches in Great Plains.
  • This disaster left nothing behind no humans no nutrients and no plants cover.
  • The humans moved towards other areas that have more fertile farmlands

Events that led to Dust Bowl

  • The European settlers arrived in the Great Plains. 
  • They build the farms and ranches. Cattle ranching provide the benefit for users but ranching caused the overgrazing and degradation of soil.
  • Farmers plow the natural grass and replace them with their own crop.
  • Row crops caused the damage to soil because the land between the rows is barren and it is exposed to wind so it leads to soil erosion. 
  • Precipitation was less in the region. Less rainfall left the soil dry and it was impossible than to cultivate that land again.
  • The dry soil blew with wind and carried the soil dust to 100 of miles. It led to dust storm and dust bowl event.
  • These dust storms buried the roads and buildings under sand.

Agricultural Practices and Factors that control Wind Erosion

  • Cover Crops are used to cover when low residue crops are used.
  • Crop Rotation is a good practice. It is the practice in which different types of crops are grown in the same area for many benefits such as to avoid pests and pathogens, to increase the fertility demands. 
  • Tillage Practices control wind erosion
  • Irrigation is good practice, because wet soil blows less.

Government Efforts

  • Extensive efforts were done by both Federal and State Government.
  • Develop many programs for soil erosion
  • Rehabilitation for settlers who are affected.

Lessons Learnt

  • Farmers learnt how to return wheat stubble and straw from harvesting
  • Plantation of clover and alfalfa produce organic matter, nitrogen, and it binds the soil. It also absorbs the rain water.
  • Instructions were given to cattle ranchers to prevent overgrazing.





GLOBAL WATER PROBLEMS

  

The freshwater available on the planet earth is enough that it can meet the demands of humans. But the distribution of water is not proper. For Example the Citizens of Bahrain, a tiny island in Persian Golf, have no freshwater availability and they desalinize the water for use. The per capita utilization of water vary from continent to continent and from one country to other country. Some countries receive the more water but their utilization is not proper while some have low water availability but they use it in effective way. South America and Asia together receives almost half the share of water resources of world. South America receives more water compared to Asia but South America has not the much potential to support the people with water. That's why the water falls in Amazon River that has poor soil and it does not support the agriculture. Asia receives less water than South America but water supply support the humans because the land where precipitation falls is suitable for agriculture. 

Global water supply greatly depends on the stable runoff. For example, India has wet season from June to September. Although the precipitation is high but their utilization is low because the water quickly runoff to the rivers and water is not available during rest of months.

Drinking Water Problems

Many developing countries have lack of water supply for drinking purpose. According to WHO there are about 1.4 billion people that  lack the access to safe drinking water supply. These estimates also represents that 2.9 billion people have not the access to dispose wastewater and fecal waste. According to WHO 80 % of human illness are caused by insufficient water supply, water poor quality and lack of sanitation facility. The US agency for International development assisted the areas that are subject to drought in the Sahel regions of Africa. Both United Nations and World Bank are dealing with water management projects.

Water Problems and Population Growth

Population growth is exceeding the water demands of countries. In India 20 % of population has the access to only 4 % of world's freshwater and 8000 villages have no local water for use. One third of wells in Beijing have been dried. The main aquifer that is supplying water to Mexico is dropping at the rate of 3.5 m per year. Global water shortage also leads to shortage of food supply.

Water Resource Sharing among Countries

Water is often an international  resource. About three fourth of world's 200 watersheds are shared between atleast 2 countries. Management of rivers are are on cross boundaries needs international cooperation between countries.


PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH WATER RESOURCES

  

Water resources problems can be classified into 3 categories: Too much water, Too little water and water contamination. The problems like floods and droughts are natural events that are one of the water resource problem. These problems can also originate when the humans do not take right decision such as they build in areas that are in danger of flooding.

TOO MUCH WATER

Too much water represents the floods. Floods are caused when the rivers spilled over and surrounds the surrounding land. In ancient Egypt this happened an after floods a thin layer of sediments accumulated in soil that enriched the soils with nutrients. In ancient times property loss or life loss was not as much high as in today life. 

Damage

Modern floods cause the widespread destruction in terms of property loss and loss of life. This is due to the humans who build their houses or buildings in the flood plain areas (areas that border a river and prone to floods). They remove the plantations from the areas that absorb the flood water and enriches the soil with nutrients. Hence the property and life loss occurs at higher rate. Floods are more destructive in nature as in US 9 out of 10 disasters are of floods.

Causes of Floods

As the forests on the mountains, hillsides are best absorbers of water coming from rainfall. When the forests are cut down the heavy rainfall causes the soil erosion and it make the lowlands at the risk of flooding. 
The other reason is that humans remove the plantations from flood prone areas and made their buildings or roads. As paved roads and buildings cannot absorb the water so the water runoff to the sewers. These leads to flooding.

Measures to prevent Floods

To prevent the floods the levees are built near rivers but in floods expensive levees even fails. There should be a restrict ban to build on flood plain areas. In California January 1997 flood, 8 people were killed, more than 16,000 homes were damaged and more than $1.6 billion was damaged. 

TOO LITTLE WATER

In Africa and Asia 40 % of population live in the arid or semi arid areas. They have to walk miles to carry water with them from rivers but that water is heavy water. Water shortage occurs due to overdrawing of surface water, aquifer depletion and salinization of irrigated soil. 

Surface Water Removal

When surface surface water is removed, wetlands dry up, Estuaries (where rivers falls in oceans) become salty.  In arid American Southwest it is uncommon that 70 % of water is withdrawn. 

Aquifer Depletion 

The over use of groundwater by humans cause the aquifers depletion. Aquifers can dry up if its use has been exceeded. The San Joaquin Valley has been sunk to 10 m due to aquifer depletion over past 50 years. Saltwater intrusion, mixing of seawater with freshwater aquifer occurs due to aquifer depletion.

Salinization of irrigated soil

When irrigation is done , it increases the productivity of soil but it also accumulates the salts in the soil that phenomenon is known as salinization. Saline soil causes the low or no productivity of soil and it is also not good or fit for crops yield.


HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND FRESHWATER SUPPLY

  


HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

"The continuous circulation of water through abiotic environment from ocean to atmosphere than atmosphere to land and than back to the oceans is called hydrologic cycle. It is complex cycle."

Hydrologic cycle maintains a balance of water among oceans, land and atmosphere. 

Sea Water

Sea Water accounts a large portion of water on earth surface. Almost 97 % of water of earth surface is found in the oceans. The oceans consist of dissolved salts. Sea water is too saline that if this saline water is given to plants, the plants will die. Humans can also not utilize this water for drinking purpose. 

Fresh Water

The percentage of freshwater on the earth surface is very low. Only 2.5 % fresh water is there on earth but from this 2.5 %,  1.97 % water is in frozen form in polar ice or glaciers that is not in use for humans; 0.5 % water is available in ground water; Only 0.03 % water is available in lakes, rivers, streams, soil moisture and atmosphere. It can been seen from the values that less than 1 % water is available to humans.
  • Surface Water
Surface water is a fresh water present in lakewetlands are the areas that are covered with water for some part of the year. Surface water is refilled by runoff of precipitation or rainfall. Thus it can be said that this is a renewable resource although it is finite. Watershed is the land area that is drained by river and its tributaries.
s, streams, ponds, reservoirs and wetlands. While
  • Groundwater
Earth surface has underground formations like pathways for the flow of water. Rain water or snow melted water seeps through soil and they make their ways in the soil through cracks in rocks until no impermeable layer restrict them. These form the groundwater. Groundwater make its way toward rivers, oceans or springs.
  • Aquifers
The porous layers of rocks that stores the water are called aquifers. These can be confined aquifers or unconfined aquifers. Confined aquifers are those aquifers that are formed between the impermeable rock layers. While unconfined aquifers are those aquifers in which upper layer of rocks is permeable that allows the water to seep down and replace the aquifer. The upper limit of the unconfined aquifers below which the water is saturated is known as water table.

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