21.11.19
Pollution & Poverty are Killing More People Than The War Itself in Afghanistan.
The research group State of Global Air said that in 2018, more than 26,000 deaths could be linked to air pollution. In comparison, 3,483 civilians were killed that year in the Afghan war, the United Nations reports. Kabul has become one of the most polluted cities in the world. It rates at the top of the list among other polluted capitals such as India’s New Delhi or Beijing, China. Kabul is home to about 6 million people. On many days, a mix of smog and smoke lies over the city. In some cases, families burn whatever they can to keep warm in cold weather. The air in their own homes then poisons them. Household pollution was partly to blame for at least 19,400 of Kabul’s deaths in 2017, the State of Global Air study found. Yousuf lives in a camp that is home to more than a hundred families. “We are so poor, and we have lots of problems…My children collect garbage from dump yards and we use it for cooking and heating to keep the kids warm,” he said. Many years of war have worsened the damage to Afghanistan’s environment. Environmental issues are less important for a government struggling with security issues and a sinking economy. Credit: SOAP BOX
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
