Asian Dust

Asian Dust

Introduction

Most dust comes from natural sources such as volcano ash, salty ocean aerosols, and desert sand. Dust is also produced by eroded roads, construction sites, volcanoes, and wildfires, and it contains pollutants from factory and auto emissions and oil, gas, and mineral mining. These man-made particulates mix with natural-source dust, creating a potent cocktail that has the ability to impact human health and fragile ecosystems. The most prolific sources of dust are the deserts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, with the Sahara and the Sahel regions of North Africa believed to be the most significant sources of airborne sediments.

The role of dust in the environment is complex, with some of its effects being benign and even useful and others being quite harmful. For instance, scientists believe that the sulfates contained in mammoth dust clouds actually work to cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight away from the planet. Dust also carries useful nutrients to the ocean that help sustain microscopic marine plants that decrease carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; dust also feeds soil around the world, helping to nurture agriculture and sustain vegetation. On the other hand, dust also acts to spread pollutants around the globe, and the solar-heat-absorbing soot in dust clouds warms the Earth. Further, when dust blocks sunlight, it reduces evaporation and rainfall, stunting crop yields. Still, most scientists agree that the overall effect of dust is to cool the Earth, though, as China and other countries work to lower or eliminate their sulfate emissions, global temperatures may climb higher and faster than predicted.

Discussion

Dust also causes cancer and dusts that lead to such diseases as miner's asthma, black lung, and silicosis.

A very high population growth rate, when a population “booms,” it is often difficult for the social system to adjust. More people means less living space and the concomitant less sanitary living conditions, less food, a greater drain on health care, and so on. When there is an overuse or abuse of vulnerable resources, the frequent result is the destruction or exhaustion of the supply. This is a common problem in Third World countries, and was once common in Asia. It occurs when ranchers allow their animals, usually cattle or sheep, to stay too long in an already delicate setting, allowing animals to eat natural resources that are not quickly or easily replaced. When this occurs, animals die, land erosion ensues, and swaths of arid land are produced. There was lack of easily accessible potable water. Quite simply, without drinkable water, most humans and animals will die of dehydration.

Deforestation

This causes great loss of animal life, as well as erosion, especially in mountainous communities. Mudslides can cause the deaths of many hundreds or thousands of people. One primary cause is the absence of trees, often because of uprooting trees in order to gain more farming land. Pollution of the air is basically ecstatic eastward towards adjacent countries. When land is eroded, dust storms, landslides, drought, and floods come more ...