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CISS6002 | Strategic Asia - Research Paper

   

Added on  2020-03-07

11 Pages3136 Words59 Views
STRATEGIC ASIA 1Strategic Asia Student’s NameCode + Course NameProfessor’s NameUniversity NameCity, StateDate

STRATEGIC ASIA2Strategic Asia Question 1 It is indubitable that the Asian economies continue to thrive significantly in the recentdecades. Nonetheless, the flourishing and the sustainability of these economies are primarilythreatened by some severe environmental challenges. These challenges, on the one hand, poseproblems such as the food security, regional stability, and undermining of future growth.Consequently, there is the need for the policymakers and other stakeholders across Asia toaddress these issues. Despite these challenges, Asia, a well-doing economy, stands numerousopportunities compared to the other regions in the world. The primary role of this paper's section,therefore, is to discuss some of the critical environmental challenges as well as the opportunitiesin the Asian region. Fundamentally, Asia is faced with numerous environmental problems and threat. Amongthe serious challenges, and that will be discussed in this section include; deforestation, landdegradation, water management, climate change, and air pollution. The continued deforestationand land degradation in Asia depict the region's widespread exploitation of the natural resources(Patz et al. 2014: 1566). Patz and the colleagues (2014; 1366) argue that India, one of the Asiancountries, predicts that more than half of its land is degraded. Deforestation and land degradationare two much related environmental challenges. Uncontrolled trees clearing in Asia, like otherparts of the world is reported to be the leading cause of soil salinity, erosion, and interferencewith the ground water table (Patz et al. 2014: 1578). Similarly, deforestation in Asia accounts fordesertification in some of the regions. It has also been found out that clear-felling transforms thefertile lands into barren lands thereby affecting crop production. Researchers have identifiedsome of the major factors that lead to deforestation and land degradation within Asia region.

STRATEGIC ASIA3These include the expansion of urban areas and emerging encroachment of forest land, increasedmarket forces for resources such as palm oil and timber products, intensive farming, corruptionthat paves the way for exploitation of natural resources and reduced regulation. Additionally, the problem of water management is an environmental issue that attractedsubstantial attention by the environmentalists in Asia (Surendra et al. 2014: 851). According toSurendra et al. (2014: 851), clean and safe water is not only used for agricultural activities butalso for industrial production. Human life is also dependent on fresh water. In general, watersources attract many users as well as uses. Consequently, if water is not well managed or if thereis competition for it, the outcome is always degradation or over-exploitation. Thus, Asia watermanagement is cumbered with major setbacks due to the increased water degradation. Some ofthe cited factors that have led to poor water management in Asia include; excessive damsbuilding, excessive extraction of groundwater, and increased pollution from the industrial andhuman wastes Surendra et al. (2014: 859). Although some efforts have been put across toimprove access to water and sanitation, many of the Asian regions, however, remainunderprivileged due to inadequate water facilities. In addition, the situation further deterioratesfollowing the alteration of rainfall patterns, usually precipitated by climate change. Theweakened East Asian and Indian monsoons are said to be the primary causes of climate changein Asia (Apergis and Ozturk, 2015): 17). Apergis and Ozturk (2015: 16) notes that a large population of Asia live in coastal andlow-lying areas thus leading to pervasive water insecurity issue. Also, the problem aggravatesdue to the climate change which is not a new phenomenon in Asia. It is reported that the changein climate and ensuing change in rainfall patterns is the leading cause of both agriculture andfood security in Asia (Rasul, 2014: 40). It is thus anticipated that the problem of agricultural

STRATEGIC ASIA4production and food security will worsen in 2030 (Rasul, 2014: 42). Other than food insecurity,the extreme weather conditions in Asia may result in the decline in marine organisms, emergenceand spread of tropical diseases, and flooding. Another major environmental challenge in Asia is air pollution. Notably, clean air is adeterminant of the human health, environmental processes, and functioning of other organisms(Lelieveld et al. 2015: 368). Air pollution occurs both outdoors and indoors. The former ismainly caused by motor vehicle emission and industrial production while the latter is primarilycaused by burning of solid fuels. For this reason, air pollution has been cited as the major causeof illness and death in Asia's large cities as well as in the poor rural areas (Lelieveld et al. 2015:368). According to Lelieveld et al. ( 2015: 370), it is not uncommon for air pollution in thedeveloping Asian cities exceeds safe levels. More appalling is the increased emissions ofparticulate matter and harmful gases from the industries and the motor vehicles versus theincreasing number of the urban population exposed to the emissions. Loomis (2013: 1262)contends that air pollution accounts for the increased cases of cancer and respiratory relatedillnesses among the habitats of the urban centres. In spite of the environmental challenges that Asia faces, it has outstanding opportunitiestowards dealing with the problems. Asia recognizes the importance of managing theenvironmental resources and the role it plays in promoting the economic growth (de Oliveira etal., 2013: 2). For this reason, Asia has re-evaluated the benefits of the environment and itsrelationship with the economic growth. Therefore, Asia has a more proactive and holisticapproach to the matters of environment de Oliveira et al., 2013: 3). In this case, therefore, therehas been a significant improvement in environmental governance as well as embracing thepartnership of the civil society, private, and public sectors in the view of ensuring sustainable

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