Environmental Pollution in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia provides the world with one of the most valuable commodities on earth today. This means the nation has a very healthy economy, and it boasts of a lot of modern and state of the art infrastructure as well as technology. Due to the mining of crude oil and the presence of refineries industries, the levels of pollution here are at alarming levels. This paper will therefore look at all aspects of pollution and what the government in terms of policies to alleviate this.
Environmental Pollution and Health Problems in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is plagued by three of the main types of pollution, namely; water pollution, air pollution and desertification. The most significant of these three is air pollution. This is as a result of the substantial number of oil refineries found in the country. As we all know, the carbon-based product being refined produces a lot of greenhouse gases that are very poisonous and pollutes the air we breathe in considerably. The country also due to its development levels has lots of infrastructures that emit vast amounts of greenhouse gas too.
Desertification is also a big issue in Saudi Arabia; more than half of the country consists of desert land that is infertile and inhabitable. As a result of this, the country struggles for the production of food as the land cannot be used for farming of crops. The desert also lenders the country with inadequate water reserves which makes farming a little difficult, and of course this means that the country’s main source of revenue to the government is the oil.
Water pollution in the nation is not very significant as the country does not boast of many water sources. The nation’s primary source is through desalination of the water from the sea, which is very salty—desalinating the water results in the water left in the sea after this process to be too salty. Consequently, the water that is left contains high concentrations of the natural minerals which eventually impacts the ecology of the sea—changing the sea’s ecology as dire as it ends up affecting the lives of marine animals negatively in the long run.
Pathways and sources of exposure groups
Pollution in KSA is mostly from the by-products of the refined crude oil since this is the main activity in the nation. The gas from the companies, machines used and the vehicles in the road all contribute largely to the amount of greenhouse gas emitted in the atmosphere. The various exposure methods that support this pollution is dispersion through the air; in this case, the poisonous gas from the fuels move to the exposed groups through the air.
Another pathway of exposure is dispersion via the water; this involves the transport of the pollutants from the source to the target individuals or environment through the water bodies. This ends up affecting humans as well as marine life. This also affects the land when the polluted water passes over it, and thus it may be difficult to farm on such a property.
Enumerate methods to control and prevent pollution.
A very significant and productive way to considerably reduce pollution is through cutting the use of lead in the fuel. The sulfur and other materials used in refining the fuel are very dangerous to the environment.
As discussed earlier desalination is a huge issue as far as water pollution is concerned. The country should device better ways of disposing of the residue after desalination. They should also design better and innovative ways to get clean water which will mean less desalination.
How Public Health Policy and Environmental Law Supporting to Promote Public Health?
Saudi Arabia has many environmental issues that need resolving; the government has, therefore, has put in place several procedures and policies that protect the people from the environmental impact of the pollution. One way the relevant authorities have done this is by setting up environmental reforms that govern public health and pest management. Additionally, they have put the public health above everything else by making sure that chemicals are not used excessively and that the greenhouse gas is kept at a minimum.