Environmental Rants!

    Thursday, January 20, 2011

Examples Of Land Pollution in other Countries besides Singapore.

The major causes of land pollution in India have to do with two of this great Asian country’s major characteristics, its population, and its rapidly developing economy.

Population
India is the second most populous country in the world with more than 1 billion people. This makes it four times larger than the U.S. and almost three quarters the size of China. Its huge, highly educated populous whose British colonial past also give it a distinctly Western style of government.

India’s population is also its greatest challenge, both politically and economically. With such a large population, the India government needs to maintain a steady pace of economic growth so it can maintain political stability.

This large population is also an environmental challenge for the world. The amount of farmland necessary to feed such a huge appetite and the amount of space to house such a huge number of people puts a great deal of strain on the agricultural sector. Many modern agricultural practices increase the yield of crops but increase the land pollution in India.

Indian’s Economic Expansion
Like China, India’s rapidly developing economy is also both a boon to the people and a challenge for the world. As the consumer appetite grows, the demands for feeding such an appetite.

Land pollution in Indian in India takes two main forms, soil erosion, and deforestation.

Soil Erosion
The near draught conditions in much of the country increase the difficulty of protecting agriculturally rich terrain. Because rainfall in these areas is small, scattered and tends to aid in erosion, moisture is one of the central problems leading to land pollution in India. The uneven ground, thin top soils, and strong winds add to these problems. The rainy season, from the late summer to early fall tends to wash away much of the healthy agricultural layer.

The wind also aids in expanding the ever-increasing desert conditions of the Rajasthan desert. Similarly, many ports are now covered in sand for the same reasons.

Deforestation
Although the British started deforestation in India, the pressures to modernize since the partition of 1947 have only increased the rates of deforestation. The mercurial growth of cities and the rapid construction of factories to help feed the thirst for economic growth have come at the cost of India’s woodlands. These policies not only harmed the trees but the indigenous peoples that had long thrived among the trees throughout India. Those cultures were all but destroyed, the former forest dwellers driven into towns and cities, strangers in their own country.

Connection between Land Use Policies and Other Environment Problems
Land pollution in India does not occur in a vacuum, of course. The management and mismanagement of agricultural lands in India affects other aspects of the India as well. The use of pesticides such as DDT in order to help maximize the crop output has created health difficulties not only for the final consumer, but also for those who live down river from the farms employing these harmful chemicals. Run off during the heavy rainy season has created higher incidences of birth defects, miscarriages, and mental retardation in children in the effected areas.

The need to maximize crop output in order both to maximize profit and to increase yield to match the food needs of growing population has only worsened the difficulties of India. This water contamination is occurring, furthermore, just as the need for drinking water is at its highest ebb.

All of this is furthermore occurring in a country the world can ill afford to have as an unstable ally. This is especially true since India has joined the nuclear club and has a cold war type relationship with its neighbor, Pakistan. The environmental and human cost of a nuclear exchange would be unthinkable.

♦ DιEи

Everyone has a part to play.
keep the Earth clean.
8:31 AM  

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January 2011