GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific
Key Messages
Air quality degradation and climate change driven by population and economic growth, transport, energy, agricultural demand and household consumption, are key issues in Asia Pacific.
• In Asia and the Pacific, there has been some reduction in emissions of Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen oxides, but air pollution and Green-house gas emissions are high and continue to increase.
• Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals are of particular concern to human health.
• In South and Southeast Asia, smoke haze pollution is the most important transboundary problem.
The impact of air pollution on human health is of great significance in Asia and the Pacific resulting in heart and chronic respiratory illnesses, cancer, increased morbidity, and premature deaths. In addition, indoor air pollution has been found to have gendered impacts leading to high lung cancer rates for women. Climate change and air pollution cause glacier retreat, contribute to ocean acidification, and increase the risk of vector-borne diseases throughout the region.
Credit: Shutterstock/ Ethan Daniels
• Low fuel quality standards. Fuel qualities/standards in the Asia and the Pacific region remain lower than in other parts of the world, and are poorly regulated in many countries.
affect the climate, and many sources of carbon dioxide and local air pollutants are the same, including vehicle exhaust, factory chimneys, energy and heating production.
Concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and low-level ozone are increasing (Dlugokencky and Tans 2015; Akimoto et al. 2015). Ozone and black carbon are often considered local pollutants, but are also major climate change drivers. Other local air pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2
) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) can also
High economic growth rates at aggregate and per person levels in Asia has led to the largest growth in per person emissions, despite the sub-region also having the highest efficiency improvements in emissions per unit of output (Blanco et al. 2014). In addition, population in Asia increased from 1.9 billion to 4.4 billion during 1970–2014, while purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) has also showed a six-fold increase over the past four decades in the sub-region. Most of the emission growth is from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes. Nevertheless, global per person food availability and consumption of animal products also increased, particularly in Asia (FAO 2014b).
In recent decades, carbon dioxide emissions have continued to increase, although they slowed in 2014. Carbon dioxide emissions increased in the top four emitting countries/ regions, which are responsible for more than 61 per cent of total global carbon dioxide emissions – China, 30 per cent; the United States, 15 per cent; the European Union, 10 per cent; and India, 6.5 per cent (PBL 2015).
46
Another driver of air pollution is natural disasters, such as droughts, volcanic eruptions and sand storms that cause damage, especially in dry and desert regions every year. Sand and dust storms have resulted in significant financial damage and loss of lives in many Asia and the Pacific countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Larger storms are generated when long-term droughts occur, completely drying the soil surface and then wind velocities rise.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227
