Already
KNOW
NEED to
Know
Will Learn
 Overpopulation
 Deforestation
 Desertification
 Air Pollution
 Global Warming
 Fresh Water
 Biomass Fuels
 Asian Brown Cloud
 Natural Resources

Every two years, Indonesia loses about
15,500 square miles of forest, an area
roughly the size of Switzerland, to logging.
Why is the deforestation taking place? What is the lumber
used for? What do trees do for the earth?
 Landslides and mudslides in corners of Indonesia and the Philippines caused
by illegal logging swept away or buried alive whole families.
 Six of the world's 15 most polluted cities are in Asia,
and the region generates a third of the world's
carbon dioxide emissions. In Asia's developing regions, around
785 million people lack regular access to safe water, UN statistics show.
 The air quality in notoriously polluted Bangkok, Dhaka,
New Delhi and several Chinese cities is healthier after most
of Asia, except for Indonesia, phased out lead from
gasoline.
 Bangladesh, which is spending $30 million over two years
to bring natural gas to 100 gas stations, is replacing highpolluting two-stroke engines in its rickshaw taxis in the
capital Dhaka with cleaner-burning natural gas power.
 Thailand's "tuk tuk" taxis now run on liquefied petroleum
gas, while buses and taxis in New Delhi and Bombay are
phasing out diesel and running instead on compressed
natural gas.
 Think-Pair-Share
 What do you think are the causes of pollution? List as
many as you can…
Vehicles
Pollution
Factories
People
 Increasing water
drainage and pollution
are putting many lakes
around the world in
serious danger. It is
estimated that more than onehalf of the world's five million
lakes are at risk, threatening the
economic and health benefits
they bring local communities.
Asia is no exception.
 The amount of water taken from
rivers and lakes for irrigation,
household, and industrial use has
doubled in the last 40 years.
 Large parts of China's longest river, the Yangtze,
have been irreversibly polluted. Around one-tenth of
the 6,200km-long river is in a "critical condition" and nearly 30% of
major tributaries are seriously polluted. Even a huge reservoir
created by the Three Gorges Dam has become heavily polluted.
China's environment has suffered as a result of the country's
economic boom.
 The government has pledged to clean up the Yangtze, which supplies
water to almost 200 cities along its banks and accounts for 35% of the
country's total fresh water resources.
 Around 14bn tons of waste are believed to be dumped into the river
each year.
 The river's aquatic life had been seriously affected, with the annual
harvest of aquatic products falling from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to
100,000 tons in the 1990s.
 Almost every single lake has some sort of
problem. A number of these lakes are
shrinking in size and some are even
disappearing. In China, thousands of lakes have disappeared
throughout the country as rivers have been diverted and water taken out
for water irrigation projects.
 In China, the disappearance of lakes has deprived the Yangtze River Basin
of much-needed water-storage capacity and flood protection. This led to
the devastating 1998 flooding, which killed some 3,600 people and caused
more than 30 billion dollars in damages. Following the floods, the Chinese
government pledged it would take action to restore the lakes.
 In Central Asia, irrigation of vast cotton fields has reduced the annual inflow of water
from the Aral Sea’s two tributaries -- Amu Darya and Syr Darya -- by 40 times in four
decades.
 As a result, the Aral Sea has lost most of its volume and split into two sections, leaving
behind a deadly desert. Pollution has left a legacy of diseases such as cancer, cholera, and
typhus, while the Aral’s once-large fish population has vanished:
 "The area where the water is no longer covered has turned to desert. And winds blow the
sands that contain salts and toxic chemicals from agricultural contaminants. And that
has a dramatic effect on people's health in the area," Larsen says.
 In Kazakhstan, the second-largest lake in Central Asia, Lake Balkhash, is in danger of
drying up.
 Think-Pair-Share
 What happens to the soil left behind when a water
source dries up?
 Would the soil left behind be a good place for planting
crops? Give example why it would or would not.
 1. Economy
 Economic loss
 The flooding in Jiangxi of China in 1998 caused great
damage. The economic loss was $156 billion, 400
buildings surrounding the lake were inundated, leaving
more than 1 million people homeless.
 Resources used in reconstruction
 After flooding, government has to input many resources
for reconstruction, e.g., police force, fire control, aid
worker, resources used for resisting flood, etc
 2. Environment
 Traffic
 Flooding will lead to the damages of roads, collapse of
bridges or traffic congestion, which may affect the daily
operation.
 Damage to farmland
 Flooding brings too much water which will cause damage to
farmland.
 3. Human Beings
 People die and lose their homes
 Flooding will cause death and injuries. In 1998, 3 thousands
people died, 1 million of people lost their homes. In 1996, the
monsoon flood in India affected more than five million
people in the northern and eastern part of the country.
 4. Disease
 Flooding usually brings infectious diseases, e.g. military
fever, pneumonic plague, dermatopathia, dysentery,
common cold (type A), breakbone fever, etc. And for those
areas which have no electric supply due to flooding, food
poisoning may occur as food may not be properly frozen.
Air
Vehicles
Pollution
Factories
Water
Soil
People
 A dense blanket of pollution, dubbed the
"Asian Brown Cloud," is hovering over South
Asia, with scientists warning it could kill
millions of people in the region, and pose a
global threat.
 In the biggest-ever study of the phenomenon, 200 scientists
warned that the cloud, estimated to be two miles (three
kilometers) thick, is responsible for hundreds of thousands of
deaths a year from respiratory disease.
 By slashing the sunlight that reaches the ground by 10 to 15
percent, the choking smog has also altered the region's climate,
cooling the ground while heating the atmosphere, scientists said
on Monday.
 Think-Pair-Share
 Why should we care about the Asian
Brown Cloud?
 -OR How does the Asian Brown Cloud affect
the GDP of these countries?
The potent haze lying over the entire Indian
subcontinent has led to some erratic weather,
sparking flooding in Bangladesh, Nepal and
northeastern India, but drought in Pakistan and
northwestern India.
 Much of the soot and other carbon-
containing aerosols that make up the
haze comes from the burning of
fossil fuels in cars, power plants
and factories. However, much
comes from burning wood and other
biomass for cooking and agriculture.
Biomass combustion produced about
two-thirds of the pollution.
 Using data from ships, planes and satellites to study
Asia's haze during the northern winter months of
1995 to 2000, scientists were able to track its journey
to pristine parts of the world, such as the Maldives, to
see how it affected climate.
 They discovered not only that the smog cut sunlight,
heating the atmosphere, but also that it created acid
rain, a serious threat to crops and trees, as well as
contaminating oceans and hurting agriculture.
 Pollution could be cutting India's winter rice harvest
by as much as 10 percent.
 Biomass energy (fuel wood, agri-residue and
animal dung) is used for cooking and heating
purposes. Use of traditional stoves consumes more fuel wood increasing the burden
on women, as women are mainly responsible for cooking and collection of biomass. Use of
biomass energy and low-grade biomass fuels lead to excessive levels of indoor smoke/air
This is
one of the reasons for higher rates of infant
mortality and morbidity and other unhealthy
living conditions. Release of carbon dioxide and other harmful gasses in
pollution. Women and children in particular are exposed to the smoke emission.
the atmosphere due to poor combustion of biomass fuels in rudimentary stoves resulting
into the emission of green house gases (GHGs). More than 80% of the energy needs are
met by fuel wood thus exerting immense pressure on the forest resources with negative
impacts on environment.
 Think-Pair-Share
 List the ways Acid Rain can affect people other than
killing plants and animals.
Asian
Brown
Cloud
Air
Vehicles
Pollution
Factories
Water
Soil
People
 By the year 2050, China will no longer be the most
populous country in the world.
 India will see its population grow by 700 million people
by 2050.
 Overpopulation occurs when a population's density
exceeds the capacity of the environment to supply
the health requirements of an individual.
 Environmentalists have long been concerned about the resources threatened by
rapidly growing human populations, focusing on phenomenon such as
deforestation, desertification, air pollution and global warming. But the
worst-case scenario is a lack of fresh, clean water.
 Nine billion is an exceptional amount of people, considering the
world's population only reached 1 billion in 1830.
 By 1999, world population reached 6 billion, and in the relatively
short time between 2007 and 2050, there could be roughly 2.4 billion
more people on Earth needing clean water, space and other natural
resources from their environment in order to survive.
 Governments facing overpopulation will also
struggle to manage waste.
When London, England, faced
a population boom in the 1850s, for example, its infrastructure was not
prepared for the excess waste, which resulted in Cholera outbreaks.
 Birthrates make a difference
The massive growth in developing nations is due in large part to fertility rates,
where women during their reproductive years will have an average of five
children.
 China's government has instituted population
control methods in order to curb growth. Their
controversial "one child" policies have garnered an uneasy
reception, especially in rural populations, where people complain of stiff fines
or forced sterilizations and abortions as a result of breaking population laws.
 With the growth of population and the decline of fresh
water, what could we expect for economic growth?
 As deforestation removes trees, desertification
increases the size of deserts, and soil degradation
removes nutrients; what could we expect in terms of
food production?
 3-2-1
3. List 3 causes of pollution world wide.
2. Provide 2 possible solutions for
pollution.
1. Give one reason why governments are
not acting fast enough to solve
pollution concerns.
Asian
Brown
Cloud
Air
Vehicles
Pollution
Factories
Water
Soil
People
Overpopulation
 Essay (1st-5th periods)
 Choose one of the following to write a 5
paragraph essay:
 Pick a country in Asia (that we have studied) and
describe why you would want to travel there.
 Your family has decided to move to a country in Asia
(one that we have studied). Explain why you agree
or disagree with the decision.
 Choose one of the countries we have studied and
explain the most important issues you think they
are facing now and how to fix those problems.
 Write a 5 paragraph essay from one of the following choices
using the Asian countries we have studied:
1. You own a large business and want to expand to Asia.
Which country will you set up shop and why.
2. Working as a pollution control specialist you are
assigned the Asian countries we have studied to help
them with their pollution issues. Which country will
you begin with and why? (Don’t forget to include the
government-some may not be that eager to listen to
you).
3. As a newly elected Senator, you want to expand U.S.
influence in Asia. Choose a country in which the U.S.
should have better relations. Explain why and how you
would approach that country.
Drawing:
The causes of air pollution
in Asia
Drawing:
The effects of
overpopulation in Asia
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In Asia Pollution spreads as economies boom. Planet Ark.
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/23266/story.htm. December 4, 2007
Asia: Irrigation, Pollution Threaten Lakes. Payvand News.
http://www.payvand.com/news/05/apr/1081.html. December 4, 2007
Asian Brown Cloud Poses Global Threat. CNN.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/12/asia.haze/index.html. December
4, 2007
Nasa.
ttp://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020yIlFxH544ASAOjzbkF/SIG=12iaogrmc/EXP=1197336072/**htt
p%3A//nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/articles/2006/2006_hotspots.html. December 9, 2007
Acid Rain.
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020kZllxHBvMA1WOjzbkF/SIG=12240pvhb/EXP=1197336473/**
http%3A//uregina.ca/~briere1l/acidrain/rain.html. December 8, 2007
Overpopulation Could Be People, Planet Problem. CNN.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/25/overpopulation.overview/index.html.
December 4, 2007
BBC News. Yangtze Pollution. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6559407.stm
September 20, 2008
Flooding Effects. http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/02054/effects.htm October 9, 2008
 http://www.inforse.org/asia/M_III_stoves.htm
 October 26, 2010
 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/science/earth/27
obbrown.html