Air pollution is killing South Africans - Study

J

Jamie McKane

MyBroadband Journalist
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Messages
7,000
Reaction score
1,008
Air pollution is killing South Africans - Study

A new study on air pollution by Eskom, Sasol Synfuels, and Natref provided shocking evidence of the harmful effects caused by these organisations to the environment and to human health.

The study was conducted by Dr. H. Andrew Gray of Gray Sky Solutions, an air pollution research consulting firm specializing in particulate matter (PM) and visibility issues.
 
Jamie McKane said:
Air pollution is killing South Africans - Study

A new study on air pollution by Eskom, Sasol Synfuels, and Natref provided shocking evidence of the harmful effects caused by these organisations to the environment and to human health.

The study was conducted by Dr. H. Andrew Gray of Gray Sky Solutions, an air pollution research consulting firm specializing in particulate matter (PM) and visibility issues.
Click to expand...

It's unfortunate CER had to use them.
Also, as an aside, incredible website http://www.grayskysolutions.com/
 
The_Other said:
That is a ripper of a website.

But what about Gauteng Winter Sports AKA veldbrand.
Click to expand...

I continually find burnt grass all over my yard throughout Winter - this is my first winter with a pool, and can see it floating on the pool and it eventually dissolves and makes the water murky. Imagine how much of this stuff is inhaled..
 
It would be interesting to study vehicle emissions, since our government is doing very little, and pollutants linger near the surface in urban areas in winter (Cape Town and Joburg).
 
We can thank Zuma and the ANC for this.

They have made the only realistic solution (nuclear power) to the problem as toxic as the particulates in the article.
 
konfab said:
We can thank Zuma and the ANC for this.

They have made the only realistic solution (nuclear power) to the problem as toxic as the particulates in the article.
Click to expand...

True, however, not sure if Russia's old RBMK reactors would have been worth the money..
 
The report is new, but the story has been around for a long time. Eskom has evaded air pollution regulations for years, and now has no money to do what it should have done a decade ago: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/art...lution-from-eskoms-coal-fired-power-stations/
With all the emphasis on Eskom’s financial and operational sustainability and future structure, the utility’s environmental performance and sustainability are inevitably neglected, and indeed has become the sacrificial lamb on the altar of the money gods.
Click to expand...

In October 2018, an analysis and study of Eskom’s own air pollution monitoring reports, commissioned by the Centre for Environmental Rights and undertaken by Dr Ranajit (Ron) Sahu, a US-based consultant in the field of environmental, mechanical and chemical engineering, revealed the sorry state of Eskom’s atmospheric emissions — with some 3,200 exceedances of its atmospheric emission licence limits in a 21-month period.
Click to expand...

Eskom and the department are being the very opposite of open and transparent. We are talking here about violations of the constitutional rights to a healthy environment. Research shows that the burning of coal at Eskom’s power stations is responsible for some 2,200 premature deaths every year and thousands of cases of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses which cost the state and therefore the taxpayer about R33-billion each year.
Click to expand...
 
The_MAC said:
True, however, not sure if Russia's old RBMK reactors would have been worth the money..
Click to expand...
They were not that model.
Commenting on this, Rosatom said that it “offers South Africa to build the entire process chain of NPP construction and operation”. The strategic partnership implies joint implementation of the national nuclear power development programme of South Africa. The key project is the construction of new NPPs with the Russian VVER reactors totalling 9.6GW (up to 8 power units) in South Africa.
Click to expand...
https://www.esi-africa.com/features-analysis/update-history-of-nuclear-in-south-africa/

Most likely VVER 1200
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VVER#VVER-1200
 
Jamie McKane said:
Air pollution is killing South Africans - Study

A new study on air pollution by Eskom, Sasol Synfuels, and Natref provided shocking evidence of the harmful effects caused by these organisations to the environment and to human health.

The study was conducted by Dr. H. Andrew Gray of Gray Sky Solutions, an air pollution research consulting firm specializing in particulate matter (PM) and visibility issues.
Click to expand...

Here is something that puzzels me beyond belief:
Why does manufacturers flock to cities, and why does city safety advisors/administrators allow more industry if a certain level of polution is exceeded or about to be exceeded by current industry, this all hapens with best claimed knowledge/education from existing universities available, and and one can go on and on. Over the years the citizens payed dearly on taxes for good gevernance practices like OHASA etc. What went wrong, ignorance cannot be of such a magnitude all on its own-? Over population of cities, how does that adds up to the problem-?

Now, cleaning up the air is going to be much more difficult than to clean up surage running in streets, rivers and dumped into the sea around coastlines, so while the easy stuff is going on, the air thing is difficult to understand just yet, I mean where would you pump money 1st-?.
 
Moto Guzzi said:
Here is something that puzzels me beyond belief:
Why does manufacturers flock to cities, and why does city safety advisors/administrators allow more industry if a certain level of polution is exceeded or about to be exceeded by current industry, this all hapens with best claimed knowledge/education from existing universities available, and and one can go on and on. Over the years the citizens payed dearly on taxes for good gevernance practices like OHASA etc. What went wrong, ignorance cannot be of such a magnitude all on its own-? Over population of cities, how does that adds up to the problem-?

Now, cleaning up the air is going to be much more difficult than to clean up surage running in streets, rivers and dumped into the sea around coastlines, so while the easy stuff is going on, the air thing is difficult to understand just yet, I mean where would you pump money 1st-?.
Click to expand...

The main problem with all forms of pollution (and many kinds of economic activity) is that the profits go to one side, and the costs to the other. The technical term for this is externalising the costs, and requires strong government intervention, which limits economic growth, and will be resisted by business and some politicians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality#Negative

Edit: There is no "safe" limit on pollution, everything has a cost! Deciding what to prioritise is complicated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability-adjusted_life_year
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X