Pollution in general is a major issue in Lebanon and concerns every citizen of the country. There are many different forms of pollution affecting the people, which are clouding the atmosphere and greatly harming everyone's health.Air pollution is the most serious and is the greatest threat towards the health of the Lebanese. About 93% of Beirut's population is exposed to high levels of air pollution, according to a study by researchers at the American University of Beirut (AUB). 

According to the researchers' findings, the average amount of airborne particulate matter, which in Beirut is created by dusty streets, wear and tear on tyres and incomplete combustion of fuel, is at least double that recommended in the WHO guidelines.

In 2010, across the city, the average concentration of nitrogen dioxide, a harmful air pollutant, was 58 micrograms per cubic metre of air. This exceeds the maximum average concentration recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO): 40 micrograms per cubic metre. Now it has further deteriorated.

Nitrogen dioxide is produced by burning fossil fuels. Most of the nitrogen dioxide in cities is released from motor vehicles. Each car emits 1.6 tonnes of nitrogen dioxide per year. To offset the emissions from a single vehicle, at least 160 two-year-old trees would need to be planted each year. Lebanon has a large number of cars on its streets — the same number per capita as Japan, despite Japan covering an area that is roughly 36 times larger.

Breathing in large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter increases the likelihood of respiratory problems. These pollutants can inflame the lining of the lungs and reduce immunity to lung infections. Pulmonologist Marie-Louise Coussa-Koniski, from Rizk Hospital in Beirut, warned that "the number of cases of asthma, rhino-sinusitis and interstitial lung disease in Lebanon has been rising significantly over the past decade". And the overall prevalence of asthma in Lebanon is at least 50% higher than that in Europe or the United States.

Such heavy pollution affects the cost of public health care. "The country could gain up to $16 million from lost work days and save up to $3.2 million in hospital visits annually if it would reduce its particulate matter by only 10 micrograms per cubic metre accordint to AUB's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.

 

Modes of transport were identified as the biggest contributors, exacerbated by all-day traffic jams and 100,000 additional new and used cars being sold in the country every year. In fact, Lebanon has more cars per capita than Turkey and almost the same number as Japan, although both countries are significantly bigger and more populous. As a result, each passenger car emits 1.6 tons per year. These emissions can only be offset by planting a minimum of 160 trees that are at least two years old.

Inadequate urban management that includes the construction of high buildings along narrow streets thus creating a so-called ?canyon street? also helped trap air pollutants within city streets.

Another prime contributor to air pollution in Lebanon is frequent fires . There have been fires at tire dumping landfill sites ( including a tire dump fire outside Beirut  that was suspected as being intentionally set by people wanting to retrieve the steel reinforcing material from inside the tires themselves in order to resell it), fire at large carpet factory , fire during protests or strikes 

 

Other factors that are exposing the population to high levels of air pollution include the absence of smoking bans in public places and the excessive use of fireworks which can cause safety limits to be exceeded 200-fold.

 

 

Lebanon has had more than its share of various air (and surface pollution) issues in recent years. Some of these issues have included dumping loads of garbage straight into the Mediterranean as well as a giant garbage mound in Sidon that is so serious that boats at sea smell it before seeing it.

Trash, is a major problem  in Lebanon. Solid waste disposal is a challenge in this use-and-toss society.

Many people are too careless and lazy to find a garbage can, and dump their trash randomly on the streets. This produces intolerable odors and inhumanely polluted sites all around the country. In certain areas, the people try to get rid of their worthless wastes or matter of any kind by burning it to ashes which pollutes the air. 

 

On this note , I would like to share with you all about the famous #Youstink campaign in Lebanon.

 

     

#Youstink Campaign in Lebanon

The You Stink campaign was formed in response to trash piling up on the streets of Beirut after the city landfill closed. The main landfill that used to take garbage from the capital, Beirut, closed on July 17 after exceeding its capacity.  There was no other arrangement made by government to collect trash.  Environmental campaigners had warned that the country?s largest landfill site was full for some time now, yet no preparations for an alternative site were made. Mountains of garbage appeared in the streets, alongside homes, schools and hospitals. In lieu of a suitable disposal plant, illegal dumps have been sprouting up around the country. People have taken to burning trash, and there have been reports of trucks dumping waste into valleys and other open spaces.

 

Trash kept on accumulating , stinking badly. The stench rising from rubbish piled up on the streets of Beirut,  had become so bad that the youth reacted ,  got angry and they wrote down their thoughts , organised themselves , used the most evident means available in the modern world: social media and organized an online campaign ?You Stink" , asking people to voice their concerns, and demand an environmentally-friendly solution to the largest waste mismanagement scandal in Lebanon?s history ,which doesn't involve dumping, burning or throwing waste into the sea. They tweeted, they wrote posts , they shared, they hashtagged ,YouTube-ed and they set a date and then they walked out of their homes, slamming the door behind them, and down the streets of Beirut and marched for? a whole bunch of things. What began, or seemed like, a protest to demand that the government deal with the accumulating trash that brought on disease, discomfort and downright shame, quickly turned into chants for said government to step down and go home.

Lebanese have long suffered through water shortages, regular electricity blackouts, a leaking sewage system and poor health and education services. But as trash has piled up on the streets in recent weeks, it looks like the people of Lebanon have had enough."You Stink" is the message they are sending.

The government has been unable to find an alternative system for waste management. Some residents have resorted to burning rubbish on the streets, sending toxic fumes over the city's skyline and into homes, adding thick smoke and an acrid stench to air leading to severe air pollution.

The health minister has warned of a catastrophe as some have started dumping waste in valleys, rivers and near the sea.

 

Measures /Strategies to be adopted:

 

 

Landfill site to be identified as top priority and the accumulated garbage should be disposed off at the soonest before it causes epidemics.

 

Direct actions must be taken in order to protect the citizens and lessen the extreme dangers that are increasing daily. Toxic and virulent fumes have excessively been transmitted into the atmosphere by factories.  This release of toxic fumes must be controlled.  The production of many commodities will further contaminate the air, but by recycling, less toxins will be released.

The enormous usage of cars should also be reduced through the use of buses and car-pooling, or riding bikes. By doing this, people could travel in a manner that is friendly to the environment, as well as get exercise to improve their health.    

  

 

In Beirut, as in many other overpopulated capitals, traffic is the main source of air pollution. 

AUB proposed imposing staggered working hours and encouraging car pooling and bicycle use to ease the traffic on the streets of Beirut. She also suggested promoting public transport , using alternative fuels and eco-vehicles and building electric trains , bus lines and electric tram system.

 

Such strategies have been successful elsewhere. Istanbul, one of the most polluted cities in the world in the 1980s, managed to improve air quality by improving its public transportation network and installing an electric tram system.

 

Sources :

 

Nature Middle East

Dailystar

http://www.oocities.org/