Back to the presentation pageAIR POLLUTION IN INDIA
What are the causes of the atmospheric pollution in India?
What are the consequences?
I Introduction
In the densely populated cities, the atmospheric pollution is among the highest of the world so India is an extremely polluted country. According to a source of 2000, New Delhi, capital of India, reached the maximum level of particles in suspension. But what are the causes of this extreme atmospheric pollution? What consequences does it cause? And what measures have been taken to avoid a disaster?
II Causes of this pollution
Air pollution in India is linked to several factors; the main things are gases rejected by the industries (ex : the coal causes acid rains) and those by car traffic which has a tendency to gather in the first layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, directly in contact with the earth's surface. They modify the good balance of the atmosphere by provoking a reaction with gases which compose it. Nitrogen oxides are part of these gases. They are formed during the combustion with very high temperatures like for example the forest fires in a natural way but also in cars and jets engines.
A. First example of a very serious pollution case: the Bhopal’s disaster
In Bhopal, in 1984, Union Carbide, a pesticides factory, exploded because of a deficiency of safety. This explosion let off 42 tonnes of mortal poison gas in the air creating a toxic cloud extending over 25 square kilometres. This gas attacked at first the eyes and then the lungs provoking respiratory failures.
B. Second example of a very serious pollution case: the Asian Cloud of pollution
According to a report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in 1999, occurred gigantic pollution cloud appeared above a big part of the Indian continent thus practically all South and Southeast Asia: a zone covering 10 million square kilometres. It consisted of a mixture of pollutants: particles in suspension, soot, organic particles and mineral dust which the toxic waste of the industries and the vehicles has emitted. The Daily paper The World declared that this « Asia’s brown cloud » was « the biggest pollution of the world: a cloud which extends over a surface equivalent to that of the United States with a thickness varying between 2 and 3 kilometres ».
III Consequences
A. Consequences for the first example
The Bhopal disaster caused more than 3 500 deaths in a few days. In 20 years, 15 000 to 30 000 persons will die and we consider that 800 000 persons will be affected by this gas.
B. Consequences for the second example
The «Asia’s brown cloud» had disastrous consequences:
- it reduced the luminosity to the earth’s surface from 10 to 15%,
- it modified the rain cycle, it provoked numerous lung cancers and more than hundred of thousand persons died prematurely,
C. General consequences
To sum up, atmospheric pollution in India could cause important modifications like for an example to the monsoon which would give rise to a change in agriculture, but also health terrible problems. That’s why it is important to take measures to reduce this pollution.
Sources :
- http://www.notre-planete.info/actualites/actu_113.php
- http://www.unep.org/Geo/geo3/french/376.htm
- http://www.jmthivel.com/bhopal/index.htm
- http://www2.ademe.fr/servlet/getBin?name=FF6991CFF69BBAF2E0D393D8EB0F3AE51153313344706.pdf
