English Essay on Environmental Issues of Pakistan

Environmental Issues of Pakistan

English Essay on "Environmental Issues of Pakistan"

Environmental problems are inherent in the country, which are of great ecological concern in terms of its sustainable economic future. These include soil erosion, pesticide misuse, deforestation, desertification, urban pollution, water logging & salinity, freshwater pollution and marine water pollution, just to name a few. The major constraint to overcoming these problems, in-fact perhaps the main contributor to their intensity is the population growth, which is very high in contrast to the natural limited resources that are available to the people. Also included in the constraints is the unsustainable use and management of these resources. Around 140 million people live in this country, making it the seventh most populous country in the world.

The rate of population growth is one of the fastest and according to estimates it would double in just 25 years (UNDP 1997). What is obvious from this is, if the population continues to grow at this rate, it would take a severe toll in the environment. The reason being that the country is not endowed with the resources required sustaining a huge population. Although it is primarily an agricultural country, the landscape is predominantly arid.educationsight.blogspot.com Water, already a scarce commodity in most parts of the country, is now facing further shortages. This is also due in part to inadequate distribution and the coercion of the water-tanker mafia. This shortage is hindering the country's potential to develop agriculture. There are limited indigenous sources of energy, fossil fuel reserves are low and there is no great potential in the biomass energy.

The combination of a large population and poor resource environment means that judicious means of energy use and minimum waste systems of production as well as lifestyles must be employed for sustainable development. The picture in Pakistan is however very different in fact totally opposite to this. Energy use is excessively inefficient; Pakistan's GDP per unit energy used is 4.0, which ranks it 69th out of 110 countries for which data is available. (UNDP). This waste of energy is combined with the need to import fossil fuels and as a consequence there is a very low productive per capita use of energy. The use of raw materials is also inefficient and many reusable resources are discarded as waste. Only 3% of the industrial plants meet international waste treatment standards. There are serious effluent problems and lack of sanitation affecting the natural resources and posing unmitigated health risks.

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