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  • Title: Environmental problems and developing countries.
    Journal: Finance Dev; 1992 Jun; 29(2):22-3. PubMed ID: 12285660.
    Abstract:
    The status of environmental conditions for forests, soils, water, air, and atmospheric changes is presented for developing countries. Loss and degradation of forests continue. The rate of cutting of moist tropical forests is 17-20 million hectares/year. The consequences would be eventual total destruction within several generations, lost soil and watershed protection, local climate change, and habitat destruction. The human toll can also be great as seen by the flooding deaths of 5000 Philippine villagers. Soil erosion is a greater danger than desertification. In sub-Saharan Africa, total harvest and yields of important food crops have declined compared to increases elsewhere in the world. In countries such as Costa Rica, Malawi, Mali, and Mexico the soil losses approximate .5-1.5% of gross domestic product annually. Progress has been made in water purification, but there are still nearly 1 million people in the developing world without access to clean water for drinking and bathing. 1.7 billion have inadequate sanitation. Access to sanitation in urban areas is on the rise. Waterborne diseases are a result of poor sanitation: 900 million cases of diarrheal disease/year, 500 million with trachoma, 200 million with schistosomiasis, or bilharzia, and 900 million from hookworm. Other diseases resulting from improper sanitation are cholera, typhoid, and paratyphoid. Water scarcity is another problem. Air quality is threatened by dust and smoke pollution which contribute to respiratory illnesses, by indoor burning of wood and charcoal particularly in rural Africa and south Asia, and high levels of lead from automobile emissions. Hundreds of thousands of people are affected through increased illness and even loss of mental functioning as in the case of lead poisoning. Atmospheric changes such as ozone depletion or global warming may not show their impact until decades later. The consequences are high levels of ultraviolet radiation which cause cancers, cataracts, and possibly immune system damage, and temperature increases which will increase the levels of the seas.
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