Air pollution and smog-filled cities If drastic improvement solutions are not implemented soon, air pollution will leave long-term consequences such as reduced life expectancy, medical and economic burdens – society…
Vietnam loses more than 10 billion dollars due to pollution every year
According to WHO statistics, every year, about 7 million people in the world die from diseases related to air pollution such as heart diseases, lung diseases and strokes. Every day, about 93% of the world’s children under 15 years old (equivalent to 1.8 billion children) have to breathe polluted air, causing their health and development to be seriously affected.
In 2013, the United Nations classified PM2.5 fine dust on the list of cancer-causing agents. Its impact is 3 times that of smoking, and 6 times that of HIV/AIDS.
In the Fall – Winter season in Hanoi and some localities in recent years, air quality pollution is at a serious level. At some times, air quality exceeded 300 on the AQI index (very hazardous).
According to a report by the World Bank (WB), air pollution causes economic losses to Vietnam of about 10 billion USD per year (accounting for 5-7% of GDP). In Hanoi alone, the total economic loss due to respiratory diseases is about 2,000 billion VND/year.
Air pollution causes direct impacts on public health. Every year our country records more than 20,000 people with lung cancer, of which up to 17,000 people die. In 2018, there were up to 71,000 deaths related to environmental pollution, including about 50,000 deaths related to air pollution.
Over the past 20 years, air pollution in Vietnam has always increased and it can be seen that the trend will continue to increase in the future. The number of deaths due to air pollution could double or even be higher than today by 2035.
Industrial development puts significant pressure on the environment
There are many causes of air pollution, typically burning straw after rice harvest. With 20% of straw burned in the City, Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment estimates that 179 tons of PM10 dust, 163 tons of PM2.5 fine dust and 23,000 tons of CO2 will be generated. This is a source of serious air pollution.
In addition, there are other factors such as traffic, construction, and industrial production. Fine dust pollution in the city is higher than in the countryside. Construction projects, industrial parks, and factories are growing continuously. Materials such as cement, soil, sand, scrap, exhaust gas… especially many people’s awareness of environmental protection is not good.
Vietnam is in the stage of industrialization, industrial development and pressure on the environment. In the period 2016 – 2020, industrial production accounts for more than 30% of national GDP, continuously growing at an average rate of 8.2% per year. The rapid increase in foreign investment projects in industrial parks has the potential to cause environmental pollution. There are still about 60% of operating industrial clusters that have not prepared environmental impact assessment reports and do not have environmental protection measures, posing many challenges in the future.
Along with industrialization and urbanization, the country’s transportation industry has also developed very rapidly, causing a huge source of air pollution emissions, especially urban air pollution.
Climate change is increasing, many extreme climate phenomena will arise, making pollution more serious, greatly affecting economic activities, increasing epidemics and public health risks.
The management and control of air pollution sources reveals many weaknesses and inadequacies such as: Legal documents on air environment management are incomplete; There is no clean air law; backward production technology of many industries; Investment resources for air environmental protection are limited; Management of air pollution sources does not meet requirements;
Apply a state of emergency if environmental pollution is severe
Faced with the current situation of polluted air and alarming indicators, Dr. Hoang Duong Tung offers some solutions. In particular, controlling exhaust emissions from cars and motorbikes, increasing vehicles running on clean fuel, this is a long-term solution for reducing air pollution.
In addition, people are encouraged to use public transportation such as buses and trams more often. And it is necessary to well control the burning of garbage, cover construction works and strictly control the industrial production process.
In addition, authorities also need to improve the policy system and legal regulations to manage air environment quality; improve the working efficiency of the air environment management apparatus at the central and local levels; Strengthen control and inspection of waste sources from motor vehicles.
Sources of dust pollution arising from new construction and repair activities, urban technical infrastructure systems need to be strictly inspected and controlled; Collect, transport and properly handle 100% of urban waste; Apply technical measures to treat dust generated from industrial and handicraft production in and around urban areas.
According to VOV.VN