Malaz Mohamed Nour, Pollution killed 7 million people worlwide

According to record released by World Health Organization, 7 million died due to air pollution in 2012 and more than a third of the death occurred in Asian developing nations. Air pollution is the world’s biggest and only environmental risk and dirty air account for 1out of every 8 deaths in the world. What is new is that effects of air pollution in strokes and coronary can now be evaluated. Reports show that those living in northeast China, Japan and south India are at a higher risk. Poor women expose to cooking fire are at an even higher risk of those noncommunicable diseases. Urbanization sprawl in the developing nations in Asia, especially china are major contribution to the problem. It is necessary for china to plan its cities rationally to have better urban infrastructures.

 

Developing countries and in top of them China, are major contributor of world pollution. As farmers are moved into the city life, china is experiencing over population in urban areas; a problem common in other areas of the world as well.  As those farmers lands are sold, they become producers of urban sprawls instead. The problem is that urban areas are spreading too far and too fast, using too many resources and producing too much waste. One way to help this problem is by making cities denser so that per capita use of resources and thus less pollution. Air pollution is also a threat to those in poor areas of the world who help little access to resources but at the same time more vulnerable to health problems. Also making cities denser will save space for agriculture as well as decrease air pollution cleanup spending.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/world/pollution-killed-7-million-people-worldwide-in-2012-report-finds.html

Blog 1: Kiribati: Tiny island's struggle with overpopulation. 2/7/14

According to BBC News, the Pacific Island chain of Kiribati is largely populated place; one of the most dense in the world. Because of the large numbers of the island's inhabitants, Kiribati is at risk of disappearing due to climate change. Surrounded by the ocean, Kiribati's land is constantly diminishing because of erosion from the water's edge. The territory is similar in size to India, however most of the population of each island making up Kiribati is located on South Tarawa. This island alone is home to over 50,000 people and its population density is similar to Tokyo or Hong Kong. A direct quote from the article states: "We've a relatively stable climate at the moment, but a shift in weather patterns, that pushes us into the hurricane belt, that could wipe us out," Kiribati's President Anote Tong told BBC. A major issue within Kiribati's islands also shows there is limited sanitation, water, and food. The island's tropical location is cause to an increase of rain water and constantly overflows underground aquifers. The water is consistently tasting like salt according to the inhabitants, which poses them at risk. This water is undrinkable if it becomes contaminated. Waste is washing up onto the beaches after high tide subsides, showing the immediate dangers of pollution. Tabao Awaerika, the secretary to Kiribati's president states they should go back to the old ways of living in order to save their home.

Analysis:
After reading this article, it is clear there is danger amongst Kiribati's inhabitants. Overpopulation is a problem which is constantly increasing amongst developing countries, and Kiribati's islands are just the tip of the ice burg. Within the article it also states only 20% of the population in Tarawa have jobs which still poses a risk for the people living in this area. Because there is so little people working, the island is losing money for repairs they are in constant demand for. Climate change is a key limitation of overpopulation and has also been positively correlated with the shifts in global temperature. More and more people are being born and there is little space for them to thrive. Small islands such as Kiribati is a prime example of how overpopulation needs to be controlled. How do we accomplish this? In comparison to China and Japan with the one-child rule, it is obvious they have change the way the world is economically and even more importantly in my opinion, the number of people in the world. Just imagine how many people would have been born if they had not put this rule into place. Although they have changed the world's population, it is not enough to control overpopulation worldwide.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26017336