Migration or death, an environmental dilemma in Afghanistan

By Riaz Darmal

Introduction
The ecological environment of Afghanistan has been witnessing huge disturbances in the pre and post war era, particularly when people were going after their lives on any cost. Zero attention was given to environmental considerations and existing natural resources has been deteriorated to their culmination. 

Deforestation, erosion, climate change, scarce water resources and impoverished air quality are the main challenges we have to deal with, being residents of the same ecology.

The environment can be simply defined as “the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates”. It becomes our social and moral obligation to take good care of our surroundings due to its importance as a medium to live and interact. Unfortunately we are lagging behind in all very initial and important efforts made to lessen the adverse environmental impacts. The recent worrying conditions of our environment warn us of an alarming situation and ask for serious attention to cope with the pertaining challenges.

Challenges

Various factors from individuals to industrial activities contribute to maximizing adverse environmental impacts, although being less industrialized country, individual's participation in such conditions counts much. Un-institutionalized disciplines, weak environmental laws, curb maintenance, and less social awareness can be the most prominent reasons for the growing dilemma.

 Government is always kept responsible for the worse situations but in a country like Afghanistan where political instability ranks fourth among the world states (Political risk index assessment, 2013), expectations of a determined and institutionalized environmental safety program requires hard work and participatory individuals volunteer support.

Air Quality

Ambient air quality of Afghanistan especially capital city, Kabul has ranked first among most polluted cities in the region by recent research findings. If immediate measures for establishing environmental protection policies and programs are not made, there is a strong risk of environmental migration of residents to other parts of the country for their health security. The existing concentration of pollutants found in air samples of capital cities is being multiplied up to 100 times international standards suggested by USEPA. E.g.  "The level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was 52 ppm (Parts Per Million) on an average day in Kabul in 2008." On the other hand, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation result indicates that the air quality standard for NO2 (annual average concentration) is 0.053 ppm in Kabul”. The vast difference between existing and suggested limits warns us of our most endangered surrounding and risky situation.

Deforestation

 Deforestation can be easily examined when a glimpse of change in land use patterns is made using maps in different provinces of Afghanistan. A map of Kunar province published by UNEP shows about 80 percent reduction in the number of forest trees between 1977 and 2002, another report from Ministry of agriculture states that “Afghanistan once had more than 450,000 hectares (1,737 square miles) of pistachio trees, encompassing a broad band across the northern portion of the country in at least nine states. Today, 40 percent of these pistachio forests have been destroyed”.Similar examples can be found all over the country and this harsh behavior with cutting down of forest trees ultimately poses a grave threat to biodiversity. Strong determination for growing new forest trees and combating timber smuggling to neighboring countries especially Pakistan can be the best way to keep critical balance between current deteriorating circumstances and future hazardous impacts.

Figure 1: Deforestation in kunar province between 1977 and 2002, Source (UNEP)

Sustainability
Sustainability being a hot issue in consumption of natural resources is equally needed to be addressed in environmental issues especially when it comes to individual usage. Sustainability can be excused as “Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment”. Water, agriculture and air formulate triangle of sustainability and contributes to cost effective paradigm in an environmental scenario. Propagation of sustainable methods and approaches in rural areas of Afghanistan should be kept in utmost priority levels because of their greater contribution (80% of the population) in creating the environment less conductive for an animation.

Conclusion

If the recent chaos continuous for coming thirty years without treatment, migration or death can be the only alternative left with residents of polluted cities in Afghanistan. Launching strict environmental policies on government level and pursing sustainable use of natural resources at the individual level can be the most efficient and prompt solutions to hinder the future issues and risks arising from the current state of affairs. The national environmental protection agency still needs hard work to draw the attention of the international community in assisting Afghanistan to rebuild its declining ecology.

References:

Afghanistan environment., 2008, UNEP annual report.
Luigi Antonello Di Lella, Stefano Loppi, Giuseppe Protano, Francesco Riccobono., 2006, Toxic trace elements and organic compounds in the ambient air of Kabul,Afghanistan.

<http://outlookafghanistan.net/topics.php?post_id=4102#ixzz2kxccbK70> [consulted on 26th December,2013].
<http://www.irinnews.org/report/77304/afghanistan-kabul-s-air-pollution-putting-people-s-health-at-risk> [consulted on 26th December,2013].

News: UN Climate change report

U.N. climate change report points blame at humans

By Dave Hennen, Brandon Miller and Eliott C. McLaughlin

(CNN) -- The world's getting hotter, the sea's rising and there's increasing evidence neither are naturally occurring phenomena.

So says a report from the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change, a document released every six years that is considered the benchmark on the topic. More than 800 authors and 50 editors from dozens of countries took part in its creation.

The summary for policymakers was released early Friday, while the full report, which bills itself as "a comprehensive assessment of the physical science basis of climate change," will be distributed Monday. Other reports, including those dealing with vulnerability and mitigation, will be released next year.

Here are the highlights from Friday's summary:

Man-made climate change is almost certain

Climate scientists are 95% confident -- that is to say, surer than ever -- that humans are responsible for at least "half of the observed increase in global average surface temperatures since the 1950s."

This is the major headline from the report, as it marks a stark spike in confidence over the last 12 years, as scientists were 90% confident in 2007 and 66% confident in 2001 of the same conclusion.

An increase in carbon dioxide concentrations that is "unprecedented" in the last 20,000 years, along with increases in other emissions, have driven up average temperatures by about 0.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) since 1950, the report states.

Worst-case predictions are that by 2100, temperatures could increase by as much as 3.7 degrees Celsius (6.6 Fahrenheit), the report says.

Climate change is already affecting extreme weather

Since 1950 we've seen a dramatic increase in extreme weather. This is especially true of record heat and heavier precipitation events.

While it's difficult to determine the exact role climate change plays in an individual event, such as Hurricane Sandy or the EF-5 tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma, because there are so many ingredients necessary to brew a single storm, the links are clearer when you look at overall patterns.

According to a study released this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, scientists found strong links between global warming and extreme weather around the globe in 2012.

Among the 2012 events were the July heat wave in the northeastern and north-central United States, the spring heat wave in the eastern United States, the Great Plains drought, the winter drought in Spain and Portugal and the heavy rains and flooding in Europe.

According to a paper in the journal Nature, this year, weather events that have previously been classified as "storms of the century" could become the storm of "every 20 years or less."

"Climate change will probably increase storm intensity and size simultaneously, resulting in a significant intensification of storm surges," the paper said.

The last 30-year period is "very likely" the warmest in the last 800 years

Scientists are 90% sure that 1981-2010 was the warmest such span in the last eight centuries, and there's a 66% chance that it was the warmest 30-year period in the last 1,400 years.

While the last 15 years have not warmed as quickly, we've seen steady warming over most of the globe, and we haven't seen a below-average temperature month since February 1985.

Scientists are also 99% certain that we will see more hot days and nights -- and fewer chilly ones -- as the 21st century progresses.

"Each of the last three decades has been significantly warmer than all preceding decades since 1850," according to the IPCC report.

To give you an idea of how the Earth has heated up, the combined land and ocean temperature increased by about 0.8 degrees Celsius between 1901 and 2010, yet between 1979 and 2010, the temperature spiked about 0.5 degrees Celsius.

Sea level rise will increase due to warming oceans and loss of ice

Better climate models give scientists more confidence that sea level rise will accelerate in the 21st century.

Scientists are 99% sure that sea level rise has accelerated over the last 2 centuries at a rate higher than at any time in the last 2,000 years.

They're also highly confident that if the global surface temperature increases by more than 2 degrees Celsius over present temperatures we could see "a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in late summer."

The report further notes that there is increasing evidence that ice sheets are losing mass, glaciers are shrinking, Arctic sea ice cover is diminishing, snow cover is decreasing and permafrost is thawing in the Northern Hemisphere.

As for the rise in sea level, scientists asserted in the IPCC report that tide gauges and satellite data make it "unequivocal" that the world's mean sea level is on the upswing.

Even if we end emission tomorrow, climate change could continue for centuries

This may be one of the more harrowing findings in the report, as it suggests we're too far gone to effect any meaningful change in our lifetimes.

Even if we end carbon dioxide emissions today, effects could linger for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And certain changes may already be irreversible.

"Many aspects of climate change will persist for centuries even if concentrations of greenhouse gases are stabilized. This represents a multicentury commitment created by human activities today," the report states.